GNU bug report logs - #22580
ls-quotes: shell-escape in tty in ls

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Vint <pjvint <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: shell-escape in tty in ls
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2016 23:28:59 -0500

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Maybe I'm the only one, but the new change in ls seems bad:

      set_quoting_style (NULL, shell_escape_quoting_style);

This is set if the output is a TTY.
Why would we want to quote if the output is a TTY?

It makes the output appear strange to me.

Example:
### Begin paste from terminal  ####
pvint <at> localhost ~ $ mkdir ls
pvint <at> localhost ~ $ cd ls
pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ touch HelloWorld
pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ touch Hello\ World
pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ ls
'Hello World'  HelloWorld
pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 pvint users 0 Feb  6 22:35 'Hello World'
-rw-r--r-- 1 pvint users 0 Feb  6 22:35 HelloWorld
#### end paste from terminal  ####

This change occurred at version 8.25
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=coreutils.git;a=commitdiff;h=109b9220cead6e979d22d16327c4d9f8350431cc#patch3

I don't see the benefit to this change (partly because I'm a stubborn old
guy who thinks "it's been this way for decades!"), but if there is a good
one, I'll say "Cool, thanks!".

Cheers,
Paul Vint
pjvint <at> gmail.com

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #8 received at 22580 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Paul Vint <pjvint <at> gmail.com>, 22580 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#22580: shell-escape in tty in ls
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2016 23:44:48 -0800

On 06/02/16 20:28, Paul Vint wrote:
> Maybe I'm the only one, but the new change in ls seems bad:
> 
>       set_quoting_style (NULL, shell_escape_quoting_style);
> 
> This is set if the output is a TTY.
> Why would we want to quote if the output is a TTY?
> 
> It makes the output appear strange to me.
> 
> Example:
> ### Begin paste from terminal  ####
> pvint <at> localhost ~ $ mkdir ls
> pvint <at> localhost ~ $ cd ls
> pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ touch HelloWorld
> pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ touch Hello\ World
> pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ ls
> 'Hello World'  HelloWorld
> pvint <at> localhost ~/ls $ ls -l
> total 0
> -rw-r--r-- 1 pvint users 0 Feb  6 22:35 'Hello World'
> -rw-r--r-- 1 pvint users 0 Feb  6 22:35 HelloWorld
> #### end paste from terminal  ####
> 
> This change occurred at version 8.25
> http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=coreutils.git;a=commitdiff;h=109b9220cead6e979d22d16327c4d9f8350431cc#patch3
> 
> I don't see the benefit to this change (partly because I'm a stubborn old
> guy who thinks "it's been this way for decades!"), but if there is a good
> one, I'll say "Cool, thanks!".

You can get back to the old way by adding -N to your ls alias.
It's been discussed on the list already but in summary the
main reasons are so that the output from ls is not ambiguous,
and can be cut and pasted to other commands.

thanks,
Pádraig

Message #15 received at 22580-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Assaf Gordon <assafgordon <at> gmail.com>
To: Paul Vint <pjvint <at> gmail.com>, 22580-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#22580: shell-escape in tty in ls
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:22:20 -0700

Hello,

On 2016-02-07 12:44 a.m., Pádraig Brady wrote:
> On 06/02/16 20:28, Paul Vint wrote:
>> Maybe I'm the only one, but the new change in ls seems bad:
>>
>>        set_quoting_style (NULL, shell_escape_quoting_style);
>>
>> This is set if the output is a TTY.
>> Why would we want to quote if the output is a TTY?
>>
>> It makes the output appear strange to me.
>>

We created a summary of common issues and FAQ
regarding the quoting change in ls(1):
  https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/quotes.html

If there is an issue that is not addressed there,
please send an email to coreutils <at> gnu.org .

regards,
 - assaf

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