Hi Mike, Peter, > or do we document that we expect `rm -f` to work,
I don't see a reason to break working code wrt rm -f merely for cosmetic purposes. test -z "$(VAR)" || rm -f $(VAR) does not actually seem "awful" to me. And I fail to see any significant gain by simplifying it. Whatever POSIX says, we can be sure that reality differs. Although systems that fail on "rm -f" are few and far between by now, they are not nonexistent. So why break them? My idea is to let the existing code stand (forever). In the alternative, I agree with Peter that at least providing an overridable variable would be desirable. --thanks, karl.