On 12/30/09 9:29 PM, Steve Newcomb wrote: > Configuration Information [Automatically generated, do not change]: > Machine: x86_64 > OS: linux-gnu > Compiler: gcc > Compilation CFLAGS: -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='x86_64' > -DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='x86_64-pc-linux-gnu' > -DCONF_VENDOR='pc' -DLOCALEDIR='/usr/share/locale' -DPACKAGE='bash' > -DSHELL -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I../bash -I../bash/include > -I../bash/lib -g -O2 -Wall > uname output: Linux zorba 2.6.28-16-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Wed Nov 11 > 09:49:32 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux > Machine Type: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu > > Bash Version: 3.2 > Patch Level: 48 > Release Status: release > > Description: > It probably never makes sense to background the "wait" builtin, > but if one makes this error, the > resulting error message is nonsensical and confusing: > > wait: pid nnnnn is not a child of this shell ## (where nnnnn is the pid)
It's not really nonsense. The ampersand causes wait to be executed in a subshell environment. That subshell, since it's a separate process, doesn't have any children, and certainly can't wait for any. -- ``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU c...@case.edu http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/