Re: [gentoo-user] 'if echo hello' in .bashrc

[Etaoin Shrdlu <shrdlu@unlimitedmail.org>]

On Saturday 9 May 2009, 12:15, Stroller wrote:
> On 8 May 2009, at 14:38, Stroller wrote:
> > ...
> >  if echo hello|grep --color=auto l >/dev/null 2>&1; then
> >    export GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto' GREP_COLOR='1;32'
> >  fi
>
> I'm afraid this thread has run away from me. I'm drinking the day's
> first cup of tea & rubbing my eyes furiously in confusion. Wha?
> I'm sure I'll comprehend the discussion better when I re-read later.
> However, is there actually any need to parse whether the grep supports
> colour before setting it?
>
> Let's say we use BSD grep or Schilling grep or whatever - is there
> actually any harm in exporting GREP_OPTIONS='--color=auto' in this
> case?

Yes, because if the grep implementation in question supports GREP_OPTIONS 
but doesn't support --color, you'll get errors when it's run.

(The assumption the author made is that if --color is supported, then 
GREP_OPTIONS is too, which is reasonable and is what happens for GNU 
grep, although I cannot speak for other implementations).