For any who any may be interested, after filing two bug reports, the problems regarding python-updater and eselect are solved.
My ~/.bashrc file, which bash will read whenever it is invoked by a script such as eselect or python-updater, contained the following line: set -o posix This directive insures that only code that is posix compliant will operate correctly. By removing the line, both eselect and python- updater can operate normally without modification. But a larger, more philosophical, issue is still unsettled. Why does Gentoo allow non-posix compliant code? I have been using my .bashrc file for many years without any problem whatsoever. Only after moving to Gentoo just a few months ago do these problems surface. There is no right answer. Conformance is a matter of taste and preference, but standards also exist for good reasons. Standards are supposed to insure that code operates as intended irrespective of the system or environment. In this case, a lack of attention to standards has caused a little grief. Anyway, that's my rant. I've learned a little more and that's always a good thing. Time really hasn't been wasted because others may experience a similar problem in the future and will now have some reference. Frank Peters
