It is not clear to me that either is a bug. Perhaps it would be easier to
address any questions if you indicated what you really wanted to do. For
example, using the eval "command" (as in "echo `eval date`") might do
what you want, but since you really didn't say...
--
Fred @ DEC Ultrix Applications Center {decvax,seismo,cbosgd}!decuac!avolio