From unknown Mon Aug 18 11:11:55 2025 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.509 (Entity 5.509) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 From: bug#21502 <21502@debbugs.gnu.org> To: bug#21502 <21502@debbugs.gnu.org> Subject: Status: 'shred' -NUMBER not recognised Reply-To: bug#21502 <21502@debbugs.gnu.org> Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:11:55 +0000 retitle 21502 'shred' -NUMBER not recognised reassign 21502 coreutils submitter 21502 Nick Rose severity 21502 normal thanks From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Thu Sep 17 00:56:10 2015 Received: (at submit) by debbugs.gnu.org; 17 Sep 2015 04:56:10 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:35615 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcREw-0008CZ-0I for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:56:10 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:37107) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM74-0008Kb-E8 for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:42 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM72-0002md-Uj for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:41 -0400 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.2 (2011-06-06) on eggs.gnu.org X-Spam-Level: * X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50, FREEMAIL_ENVFROM_END_DIGIT,FREEMAIL_FROM,FREEMAIL_REPLYTO_END_DIGIT, HTML_MESSAGE,T_DKIM_INVALID autolearn=disabled version=3.3.2 Received: from lists.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::11]:52703) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM72-0002mZ-PW for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:40 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:47111) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM71-0001T6-Rd for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:40 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM6y-0002lN-Jb for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:39 -0400 Received: from nm34-vm3.bullet.mail.gq1.yahoo.com ([98.136.216.142]:59426) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcM6y-0002lI-22 for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:27:36 -0400 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoo.co.uk; s=s2048; t=1442446054; bh=eI0cMwbgqveH04lc1eBbbwT3fQdivLrBsFYvd9s1hkg=; h=Date:From:Reply-To:To:Subject:From:Subject; b=gsML+PUu595pJQ5m+yuIiUBZPqymAAs0iCcn3AGZjfbqMsGII5K1/HElC0O/d1bVpfpFOMw5SH7CiZfo55cz0QurNJQR7tEru/ADHD2WJKlVSs8jOor90PKDQysSQhL1BOygaXxQ2Xp7cgWCuAZ5FOFxqA3TadEes0GxxhmZB5u4lRY5QCCsZ+drcyz94c7W059sFa02YX2gBQVBwvaKzgK0xEwGNumC/pwGtFqRqM3x0I0KcLc5ddaMHlpdNO80t2oIzo4TT5b/bAW0qwzMEAeo7xLWOdOZDbSzFzSVnJ3uY8gJq0dwI+ArWpLdGlepl2sefauY2to3wdYc3iVW7w== Received: from [127.0.0.1] by nm34.bullet.mail.gq1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Sep 2015 23:27:34 -0000 Received: from [98.137.12.58] by nm34.bullet.mail.gq1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Sep 2015 23:24:34 -0000 Received: from [212.82.98.126] by tm3.bullet.mail.gq1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Sep 2015 23:24:34 -0000 Received: from [212.82.98.83] by tm19.bullet.mail.ir2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Sep 2015 23:24:34 -0000 Received: from [127.0.0.1] by omp1020.mail.ir2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Sep 2015 23:24:34 -0000 X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-4 X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 67187.43351.bm@omp1020.mail.ir2.yahoo.com X-YMail-OSG: qyQ9LH0VM1mgiPNlpl4JKNbrt3Cya829005bRxnGQ1mC3emWrybrCai1AthIZ42 lchY1g50AjwkhNbDV6C1AdlY2pL6MLaWXIxFRl7zIklIHTEfDrrx9r6WRgTJenhuJhkGzh99yILo CUdbjCvRMvw_lp4Dv2O4kDX2T1E4hJaUeH6bhUMX_RttWdJgBaJ570HFpCnEo2kUYMAdqV9iH.7e XIy.57j4Nnel8yiJlW8ZvTvBILirL3xDs8qrFYdBg34tcOsm8Iv8XuJ0qtBq7KdrMaZzx5C3jxYQ GKEynjO9e6OaEih3i0pxF9IteDVoL9FSdX0m5WfK8RRTHlD4_hk1Cg4WcHv9TXGN1SewilRz7ZBQ T8Wrtt8Os3l9GBeLJ14X_EugTDN90rtPQEnDN3SR01QzctAbszB4PGzxCxJlwqUv1OHdrLUch8Yd Ub5utP3NOuWPougqkFVn9SV.BEi7bVVoUqzmxAabj6T06KEYn4ZjYV0nxlrVMkVnqqvrxPPzw5AQ G4SWcNn2IDdpxOh3G Received: by 217.12.9.12; Wed, 16 Sep 2015 23:24:33 +0000 Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 23:23:17 +0000 (UTC) From: Nick Rose To: "bug-coreutils@gnu.org" Message-ID: <53908252.935640.1442445797710.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Subject: 'shred' -NUMBER not recognised MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_935639_826545149.1442445797707" Content-Length: 3392 X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 3.x X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Error: Malformed IPv6 address (bad octet value). X-Received-From: 2001:4830:134:3::11 X-Spam-Score: -4.5 (----) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: submit X-Mailman-Approved-At: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:56:08 -0400 X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list Reply-To: Nick Rose List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -4.5 (----) ------=_Part_935639_826545149.1442445797707 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ostensible discrepancy between 'shred' and its documentation. (shred (GNU coreutils) 8.23 on Xubuntu 14.10) On the 'shred' info page: =E2=80=98-NUMBER=E2=80=99 =E2=80=98-n NUMBER=E2=80=99 =E2=80=98--iterations=3DNUMBER=E2=80=99 =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 By default, =E2=80=98shred=E2=80=99 uses 3 passes = of overwrite.=C2=A0 You can reduce =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 this to save time, or increase it if you think it= =E2=80=99s appropriate. =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 After 25 passes all of the internal overwrite patt= erns will have =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 been used at least once. If I try the '-NUMBER' method to specify number of iterations: $ shred -1 file shred: invalid option -- '1' Try 'shred --help' for more information. The other two methods for specifying number of iterations work. ------=_Part_935639_826545149.1442445797707 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Osten= sible discrepancy between 'shred' and its documentation.
(shred (GNU coreutils) 8.2= 3 on Xubuntu 14.10)

On = the 'shred' info page:

= =E2=80=98-NUMBER=E2=80=99
=E2=80=98-n NUMBER=E2=80=99
=E2=80=98--iterations=3DNUMBER=E2=80=99
     By default, =E2=80=98s= hred=E2=80=99 uses 3 passes of overwrite.  You can reduce
     this to s= ave time, or increase it if you think it=E2=80=99s appropriate.
     After 25= passes all of the internal overwrite patterns will have
     been used at = least once.

<= div id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1442445036830_2792" dir=3D"ltr">If I try the '-NUMBE= R' method to specify number of iterations:

$ shred -1 file
shred: invalid option -- '1'
Try 'shred --help' for more information.

The other two methods for specif= ying number of iterations work.
------=_Part_935639_826545149.1442445797707-- From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Thu Sep 17 03:40:45 2015 Received: (at 21502-done) by debbugs.gnu.org; 17 Sep 2015 07:40:45 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:35707 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcToC-0003nD-LX for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 03:40:44 -0400 Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([131.179.128.68]:53403) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1ZcToA-0003n4-W5 for 21502-done@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 03:40:43 -0400 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id A7D9116110B; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10032) with ESMTP id xj0f9_ua0ijO; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id B2A43161109; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:40 -0700 (PDT) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at zimbra.cs.ucla.edu Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026) with ESMTP id sn4fhnP0UsQ8; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.1.9] (pool-100-32-155-148.lsanca.fios.verizon.net [100.32.155.148]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 8ADD6160810; Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: bug#21502: 'shred' -NUMBER not recognised To: Nick Rose , 21502-done@debbugs.gnu.org References: <53908252.935640.1442445797710.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> From: Paul Eggert Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Message-ID: <55FA6E78.2020401@cs.ucla.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:40:40 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.2.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <53908252.935640.1442445797710.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------040201060703030708040306" X-Spam-Score: -0.0 (/) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 21502-done X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -0.0 (/) This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------040201060703030708040306 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for reporting that -- it has been a bug in the manual for sixteen years! I installed the attached patch. --------------040201060703030708040306 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; name="0001-shred-don-t-document-NUMBER-option.patch" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="0001-shred-don-t-document-NUMBER-option.patch" RnJvbSBkMTI0ZGJmZGU2NTZhMGFlZTAwZDVkODk0MDZhY2RiMGM1YmZlODMxIE1vbiBTZXAg MTcgMDA6MDA6MDAgMjAwMQpGcm9tOiBQYXVsIEVnZ2VydCA8ZWdnZXJ0QGNzLnVjbGEuZWR1 PgpEYXRlOiBUaHUsIDE3IFNlcCAyMDE1IDAwOjM3OjMwIC0wNzAwClN1YmplY3Q6IFtQQVRD SF0gPT9VVEYtOD9xP3NocmVkOj0yMGRvbj1FMj04MD05OXQ9MjBkb2N1bWVudD0yMC1OVU1C RVI9MjBvPz0KID0/VVRGLTg/cT9wdGlvbj89Ck1JTUUtVmVyc2lvbjogMS4wCkNvbnRlbnQt VHlwZTogdGV4dC9wbGFpbjsgY2hhcnNldD1VVEYtOApDb250ZW50LVRyYW5zZmVyLUVuY29k aW5nOiA4Yml0CgpUaGUgLU5VTUJFUiBvcHRpb24gd2FzIHJlbW92ZWQgZnJvbSDigJhzaHJl ZOKAmSBpbiAxOTk5LCBidXQgdGhlCm1hbnVhbCB3YXNu4oCZdCB1cGRhdGVkIHRvIG1hdGNo LiAgUHJvYmxlbSByZXBvcnRlZCBieSBOaWNrIFJvc2UgaW46Cmh0dHA6Ly9idWdzLmdudS5v cmcvMjE1MDIKKiBkb2MvY29yZXV0aWxzLnRleGkgKHNocmVkIGludm9jYXRpb24pOgpSZW1v dmUgZG9jdW1lbnRhdGlvbiBmb3IgLU5VTUJFUiBvcHRpb24uCi0tLQogZG9jL2NvcmV1dGls cy50ZXhpIHwgMyArLS0KIDEgZmlsZSBjaGFuZ2VkLCAxIGluc2VydGlvbigrKSwgMiBkZWxl dGlvbnMoLSkKCmRpZmYgLS1naXQgYS9kb2MvY29yZXV0aWxzLnRleGkgYi9kb2MvY29yZXV0 aWxzLnRleGkKaW5kZXggNTU4OTE2Mi4uYTAyOWVjNiAxMDA2NDQKLS0tIGEvZG9jL2NvcmV1 dGlscy50ZXhpCisrKyBiL2RvYy9jb3JldXRpbHMudGV4aQpAQCAtOTM5Niw4ICs5Mzk2LDcg QEAgVGhlIHByb2dyYW0gYWNjZXB0cyB0aGUgZm9sbG93aW5nIG9wdGlvbnMuICBBbHNvIHNl ZSBAcmVme0NvbW1vbiBvcHRpb25zfS4KIEBjaW5kZXggZm9yY2UgZGVsZXRpb24KIE92ZXJy aWRlIGZpbGUgcGVybWlzc2lvbnMgaWYgbmVjZXNzYXJ5IHRvIGFsbG93IG92ZXJ3cml0aW5n LgogCi1AaXRlbSAtQHZhcntudW1iZXJ9Ci1AaXRlbXggLW4gQHZhcntudW1iZXJ9CitAaXRl bSAtbiBAdmFye251bWJlcn0KIEBpdGVteCAtLWl0ZXJhdGlvbnM9QHZhcntudW1iZXJ9CiBA b3BpbmRleCAtbiBAdmFye251bWJlcn0KIEBvcGluZGV4IC0taXRlcmF0aW9ucz1AdmFye251 bWJlcn0KLS0gCjIuMS4wCgo= --------------040201060703030708040306-- From unknown Mon Aug 18 11:11:55 2025 Received: (at fakecontrol) by fakecontrolmessage; To: internal_control@debbugs.gnu.org From: Debbugs Internal Request Subject: Internal Control Message-Id: bug archived. Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2015 11:24:04 +0000 User-Agent: Fakemail v42.6.9 # This is a fake control message. # # The action: # bug archived. thanks # This fakemail brought to you by your local debbugs # administrator