Include GNU sed 4.1.5 [PSARC/2008/254 FastTrack timeout 04/17/2008]

[Garrett D'Amore]

A few questions (and note that none of these are necessarily any cause 
to change anything about this case):

1) Can GNU sed become a full replacement for our sed (at least 
/usr/bin/sed)?  (Yeah, I know its GPL, but so what... it seems like our 
own implementation has probably grown crufty over the years, and is 
unfortunately also encumbered.)

2) If the answer to #1 is "no", would it be possible to introduce some 
of the GNU improvements (functional equivalents -- obviously the GPL 
requires a totally separate implementation) to our sed, or

3) Would it be possible to convert to using BSD sed (possibly with 
GNU-workalike-feature enhancements)?

Interestingly enough, the only documented difference I can see between 
XPG4 sed and Solaris sed is the handling of the "l" pattern space -- 
xpg4 is a bit nicer.  How does GNU sed compare here?

Architecturally, I'd prefer to have a single sed, but I understand that 
GNU features are probably required for FOSS support.  A second, lesser 
choice is to have the features in our "standard" sed which provide  
feature equivalence, so that developers don't feel that they have no 
choice but to use GNU sed when developing for Solaris.

Thanks.

    - Garrett

Don Cragun wrote:
> I am submitting this FastTrack for Carol.
> A patch binding is requested.
> This case times out Thursday, April 17, 2008.
>
>  - Don
>
> Template Version: @(#)sac_nextcase 1.64 07/13/07 SMI
> This information is Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems
> 1. Introduction
>     1.1. Project/Component Working Name:
> 	 Include GNU sed 4.1.5
>     1.2. Name of Document Author/Supplier:
> 	 Author:  Carol Fields
>     1.3  Date of This Document:
> 	10 April, 2008
> 4. Technical Description
>
> 4.1 Summary
> 	This case adds the GNU implementation of sed to the SFW
> 	consolidation for delivery in OpenSolaris/Indiana.  GNU sed
> 	will be integrated under the guidelines for /usr/gnu [1].
>
> 	This case seeks Patch binding.
>
> 4.2 Details
> 	GNU sed provides an implementation of the UNIX stream editor.
> 	GNU sed is incompatible with Solaris /usr/bin/sed and
> 	/usr/xpg4/bin/sed, as demonstrated by comparing the results of
> 	UNIX03 VSC sed tests.  GNU sed offers enhancements over
> 	/usr/bin/sed and /usr/xpg4/bin/sed.  (For example, GNU 'sed -r'
> 	allows use of extended regular expressions in the script.) It
> 	is expected that developer time will be conserved by providing
> 	GNU sed on OpenSolaris; developers expect the familiarity of
> 	open source tools across platforms.
>
> 	A new package, SUNWgsed, will be introduced to deliver the
> 	component.  Given that GNU sed is a conflicting command,
> 	/usr/bin/gsed will be provided because other operating systems,
> 	such as FreeBSD, include gsed.  /usr/gnu/bin/sed will be a
> 	symlink to ../../bin/gsed.  Similarly
> 	/usr/gnu/share/man/man1/sed.1 will be a symlink to
> 	../../../../share/man/man1/gsed.1.
>
> 	The initial version provided will be sed-4.1.5.  The man page
> 	included in the sed-4.1.5 package refers to "sed version
> 	4.1.4".  It also contains the header "SED(1)".  To be
> 	consistent with other conflicting commands, "SED(1)" will not
> 	be changed to "GSED(1)".  So when MANPATH begins with
> 	/usr/gnu/share/man:/usr/share/man, `man sed` will print the
> 	"SED(1)" man page.  And `man gsed` will print the same man page
> 	when MANPATH begins with /usr/share/man.
>
> 4.3 Exported Interfaces
> 	/usr/gnu/bin/sed (symlink to ../../bin/gsed)
> 		Location:		Uncommitted
> 		Invocation:		Volatile
> 		Human-readable output:	Volatile
>
> 	/usr/gnu/share/man/man1/sed.1
> 	(symlink to ../../../../share/man/man1/gsed.1)
> 		Location:		Uncommitted
>
> 	/usr/share/info/sed.info
> 		Location:		Uncommitted
>
> 5. References
> 	[1] S. Hahn, B. Smaalders, and R. Orth, PSARC/2007/047: /usr/gnu
> 	[2] S. Hahn, PSARC/2007/049:  Include GNU which 2.16
> 	[3] S. Hahn, PSARC/2007/048:  Include GNU coreutils 6.7
> 	[4] SED(1) man page: materials/sed.1
>
> 6. Resources and Schedule
>     6.4. Steering Committee requested information
>    	6.4.1. Consolidation C-team Name:
> 		SFW
>     6.5. ARC review type: FastTrack
>     6.6. ARC Exposure: open
>
>