GNU bug report logs - #69901
(echo a; echo b) | sort -nu looses some data

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Message #10 received at 69901-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Rafal Maszkowski <rzm <at> icm.edu.pl>
Cc: 69901-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#69901: (echo a; echo b) | sort -nu looses some data
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2024 15:07:01 -0700

On 3/19/24 08:33, Rafal Maszkowski wrote:
> he --debug option advised in
> README does not say anything helpful:
> 
> (echo a; echo b) | sort --debug -nu
> sort: text ordering performed using simple byte comparison
> a
> ^ no match for key

That diagnostic message is helpful. It's telling you that there's no 
number, so everything sorts as being the same, which means 'sort -nu' 
(correctly) outputs just one line.

'sort' has behaved this way for quite some time, and POSIX requires this 
behavior.

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