GNU bug report logs -
#36357
Wrong Ghostscript program name on MS Win
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Message #71 received at 36357 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
> From: Tassilo Horn <tsdh <at> gnu.org>
> Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 11:05:24 +0200
> Cc: Sebastian Urban <mrsebastianurban <at> gmail.com>, 36357 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>
> Another question: You both used executable-find with exe file extension.
> Was that intended? I mean, it makes sure we don't falsely set some
> "gs.bat" or "gs.cmd" which might have nothing to do with GhostScript.
> Is that a real danger? If so, we need the OS distinction again.
It is IME wrong and user-unfriendly to refuse to load foo.bat or
foo.cmd and insist on running foo.exe. The reason is that having a
batch file that shadows a .exe program is the easiest way of
"customizing" programs, like adding default arguments, setting up a
special PATH value, etc. I need to do that quite a lot, especially
when working in fascist domains where the admins think they know
better what I need and what I don't. So I wouldn't like it if Emacs,
of all programs, would disallow me to have a gs64winc.cmd file when
the .exe somehow needs some help to run correctly.
Therefore, my suggestion is to use just "foo" without any extension.
If the user has a foo.bat that is found before foo.exe, it is their
misconfiguration, and they need to fix that locally. However, more
often than not, the user _wants_ the batch file to run instead, and we
shouldn't punish users who know what they are doing on behalf of those
who don't.
Just my $0.02, feel free to disregard.
P.S. This is not Windows-specific, IMO: the same is true on Posix
systems where a shell script can "shadow" a program.
This bug report was last modified 5 years and 30 days ago.
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