PATH bug?

[Doug Gwyn <gwyn>]

> For those without a) post-V7 documentation for the Bourne shell or b) the
> patience to try to find it, the magic sentence is:
> 
> 	Execution
> 	     ...Note that the current directory is specified by a
> 	     null path name, which can appear immediately after the
> 	     equal sign or *between the colon delimiters* anywhere
> 	     else in the path list.
> 
> The italicized phrase is the obscure clue.

Yeah, but the manual entry is just documenting the bug, not justifying
it.  PATH=/bin:/usr/bin names TWO directories, not ONE.  There seems
to be no good reason why the null path (current directory) shouldn't be
treated the same as every other entry in the colonized ( :-) ) string.
In fact, I think I'll fix this in the BRL Bourne shell tonight.  I hate
bugs; especially I hate hearing them called features!

This is a particularly obnoxious bug, since to avoid tripping over
land mines planted by mischievous turkeys, one wants to search the
current directory LAST, and this is just where the bug bites.