Bourne shell modifications, past and future (long)

[Doug Gwyn <gwyn>]

> I think the most glaring difference between csh aliasing and
> sys5 bourne shell functions is that the latter looks up builtins first.
> This means you can't define functions that clash with shell commands.
> On the other hand shell functions have a MUCH better syntax. Why not
> move up the expansion of shell functions ahead of builtins at
> the expense of not having recursive functions.

Very good question.  My guess is that either (a) it was easier
to do it the other way, or (b) it would be considered a security
problem in restricted shells.  Can DGK tell us why?