GNU bug report logs - #55325
(sha|md5)*sum on UNIX should default to binary mode

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

From: Christoph Anton Mitterer <calestyo <at> scientia.org>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: (sha|md5)*sum on UNIX should default to binary mode
Date: Sun, 08 May 2022 22:18:42 +0200

Hey.

Since on UNIX/Linux it is effectively always binary mode, shouldn't the
(sha|md5)*sum tools default to that, and especially also generate
output with the "*" flag set?

Cheers,
Chris.

Message #8 received at 55325 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Christoph Anton Mitterer <calestyo <at> scientia.org>, 55325 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#55325: (sha|md5)*sum on UNIX should default to binary mode
Date: Mon, 9 May 2022 14:14:37 +0100

tag 55325 wontfix
close 55325
stop

On 08/05/2022 21:18, Christoph Anton Mitterer wrote:
> Hey.
> 
> Since on UNIX/Linux it is effectively always binary mode, shouldn't the
> (sha|md5)*sum tools default to that, and especially also generate
> output with the "*" flag set?

Well they do default to binary mode,
but don't use an explicit flag on UNIX systems
(unless -b is specified).

For compatibility reasons we can't really change thing now,
but note the newer `cksum -a ...` interface which uses
a different format without binary tag.

thanks,
Pádraig

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