GNU bug report logs - #27942
Bug regarding "touch" command

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Package: coreutils;

Reported by: pavan kumar yalavarthi <yalavarthi.pavankumar.123 <at> gmail.com>

Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2017 06:26:02 UTC

Severity: normal

Done: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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Message #10 received at 27942-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: pavan kumar yalavarthi <yalavarthi.pavankumar.123 <at> gmail.com>,
 27942-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#27942: Bug regarding "touch" command
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2017 00:16:23 -0700

pavan kumar yalavarthi wrote:
> " *touch  -* " is not working i.e., file named " - " is not being created
> using *touch *command in* ubuntu* flavours  , but working fine with* linux *
> flavours.

It's not a bug. In coreutils, 'touch -' is documented to touch the standard 
output file, not a file named '-'. The POSIX specification for 'touch' allows 
either the coreutils behavior or the other behavior that you mentioned. If you 
want to touch a file named '-', the command 'touch ./-' is a portable way to do it.
This bug report was last modified 7 years and 292 days ago.

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