nice --n is broken in SYS V/AT 2.3 and predecessors

[John Limpert]

In article <2099 at sugar.UUCP> karl at sugar.UUCP (Karl Lehenbauer) writes:
>According to my AT&T System V User's Manual, the super-user may run
>commands with priority higher than normal by using a negative increment,
>e.g., nice --2
>
>It doesn't work.  Nice bombs, saying 'Badly formed number'

It does work.  Just tried it on Microport System V/AT 2.3.  You are
probably trying to do this with /bin/csh.  The nice command is built
into the C shell and the syntax is different.  The C shell version
of "nice --20 foo" is "nice +20 foo".  It would have been nice if they
had kept compatibility with the old syntax.  You can also use
"/bin/nice --20 foo" with either shell.

-- 
John A. Limpert
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