Re: [gentoo-user] zsh and sudo

[daid kahl]

>> I just installed zsh recently and was working on making the switch
>> over from bash for my daily user, provided I can get a few things
>> worked out.
>>
>> The biggest problem that I can't find useful results googling is zsh
>> interaction with sudo.
>>
>> I'm noticing some strange behavior with the PATH and also the
>> interpretation of '='.
>>
[snip]
>> So sudo has the PATH set correctly, but it doesn't actually use the
>> correct path.  Fishy!
>
> Nope. If you do
>
> sudo echo $PATH
>
> $PATH is replaced by the calling shell before sudo even sees it, so no wonder
> you see the right one (btw, this should also answer your other question on why
> doing the same on a second instance of the shell seems to "work").
> To test what path is seen when sudoing, do
>
> sudo zsh -c 'echo $PATH'
>
> that should be more accurate. But you already had an indication of what $PATH
> is in your first command above.

Yes, that's true!

>
> This might be a good read about where to define PATH:
>
> http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq03.html#l19
>
>> As for interpretation of '=' I really don't understand what's
>> happening.  It seems indiscriminate of the case in terms of mucking
>> about, but the exact result it not always the same.  Consider the
>> monstrous output in the following simple case of making a new
>> environment variable:

[snip]

> This looks strange, and would indeed require more investigation. For some
> reason, sudo is running /bin/env instead of erroring out (as no command to run
> has been specified). However, I doubt that has anything to do with zsh.
>
>> Or if I want to emerge a specific package, instead I get:
>>
>> daid@flux log % sudo emerge =sudo-1.7.2_p2-r2
>> zsh: sudo-1.7.2_p2-r2 not found
>
> This is expected. See
>
> http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Expansion.html#SEC78
>
> "unsetopt EQUALS"
>
> should cure it. Unless, of course, you DO want to take advantage of zsh's
> special handling of "=", in which case read the documentation.

Excellent!

> Zsh is a wonderfull shell, but it does have a steep learning curve, due to its
> many features. Yes, you will bang your head on the wall many and many times if
> you don't read the documentation and continue to think in bash terms.
> Reading the manual (or the "user friendly" documentation) is a must. Zsh is an
> example of an open source project with a massive and excellent documentation,
> so no excuses for not reading it! :)

Etaoin -- your response gave me probably all the tools and conviction
I need.  I should read documentation before hitting user lists, but I
like the gentoo user list for good reasons.  The notes about zsh are
greatly appreciated, but as long as I command the ability to take the
time to learn well documented things, then if nothing else, it's a
great learning experience.  Using gentoo for me is largely motivated
by this personal philosophy, and I changed from bash not because I
dislike it but because I wanted to try something new.  For example,
just reading your response I've learned more about how the path works
that I didn't know.

I'm over my head right now for other work that's more pressing, but it
seems like I should be able to get zsh running properly by next week.

Regarding Helmut's comment:

> What is   echo $SHELL  saying?

> Here, is says /bin/zsh
> and your examples works just fine.

This is a useful suggestion, but I had tried this and confirmed the
same output you report.  So the problem is buried deeper in my lack of
knowledge about the operation of shells.  Thanks!

~daid