echo -e acts differently when run in a script by root on ubuntu
- by ekrub
When running a bash script on ubuntu 9.10, I get different behavior from bash echo's "-e" option depending on whether or not I'm running as root.
Consider this script:
$ cat echo-test
if [ "`whoami`" = "root" ]; then
echo "Running as root"
fi
echo Testing /bin/echo -e
/bin/echo -e "foo\nbar"
echo Testing bash echo -e
echo -e "foo\nbar"
When run as non-root user, I see this output:
$ ./echo-test
Testing /bin/echo -e
foo
bar
Testing bash echo -e
foo
bar
When run as root, I see this output:
$ sudo ./echo-test
Running as root
Testing /bin/echo -e
foo
bar
Testing bash echo -e
-e foo
bar
Notice the "-e" being echoed in the last case ("-e foo" instead of "foo" on the second-to-last line). When running a script as root, the echo command runs as if "-e" was given and, if -e is given, the option itself is echoed.
I can understand some subtle differences in behavior between /bin/echo and bash echo, but I would expect bash echo to behave the same no matter which user invokes it.
Anyone know why this is the case? Is this a bug in bash echo?
FYI -- I'm running GNU bash, version 4.0.33(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
