[bug #21549] "tail +N file" fails

[Eric Blake]

Update of bug #21549 (project coreutils):

                  Status:                    None => Invalid                
             Open/Closed:                    Open => Closed                 

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Follow-up Comment #1:

Closing this report, since it is not a bug, but a misunderstanding on your
part on the POSIX rules for tail.  See the NEWS file, where the entry for
coreutils 5.90 states:

  A few usages still have behavior that depends on which POSIX standard is
  being conformed to, and portable applications should beware these
  problematic usages.  These include:

    Problematic       Standard-conforming replacement, depending on
       usage            whether you prefer the behavior of:
                      POSIX 1003.2-1992    POSIX 1003.1-2001
    sort +4           sort -k 5            sort ./+4
    tail +4           tail -n +4           tail ./+4

Also, consult 'info coreutils standard', which states:

   The GNU utilities normally conform to the version of POSIX that is
standard for your system.  To cause them to conform to a different
version of POSIX, define the `_POSIX2_VERSION' environment variable to
a value of the form YYYYMM specifying the year and month the standard
was adopted.  Two values are currently supported for `_POSIX2_VERSION':
`199209' stands for POSIX 1003.2-1992, and `200112' stands for POSIX
1003.1-2001.  For example, if you have a newer system but are running
software that assumes an older version of POSIX and uses `sort +1' or
`tail +10', you can work around any compatibility problems by setting
`_POSIX2_VERSION=199209' in your environment.


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