[Bug 1097467] Re: bash does not fulfill --rcfile option properly

[Dave Jones]

This has apparently been an issue for some considerable time. I've just
now run into it while delving into a failure in pexpect's test-suite
(during work on LP: #1987420), which apparently assumes that using
--rcfile will suppress both the user *and* the system's bashrc (as the
man-page documents).

However, I'm not entirely convinced this is a bug in bash, so much as
its man-page. Reading the original code (shell.c in bash) its intent is
fairly clear: execute the system-wide bashrc in all interactive shells,
but permit the user's bashrc to be overridden by --rcfile.

It's worth noting that the original (upstream, not Debian) man-page
makes no mention of the system-wide bashrc because it's an option that's
not activated by default. The Debian packaging enables the system-wide
bashrc (SYS_BASHRC in d/p/deb-bash-config.diff) and then patches the
man-page to mention it (d/p/man-bashrc.diff). In other words, I suspect
this is a documentation bug rather than a behavioural bug (i.e. the man-
page is wrong, not the behaviour).

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1097467

Title:
  bash does not fulfill --rcfile option properly

Status in bash package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I am starting a bash shell using

  $ bash --noprofile --rcfile my-custom-bash-rc-file

  Due to the --rcflag, the newly started bash should *not* execute
  commands from /etc/bash.bashrc. That is at least how I interpret `man
  bash`:

        --rcfile file
                Execute commands from file instead of the system wide initialization file /etc/bash.bashrc and the standard personal initial‐
                ization file ~/.bashrc if the shell is interactive (see INVOCATION below).

  However, it seems that the commands in /etc/bash.bashrc are in fact
  executed.

  To see/reproduce/diagnose this, on Ubuntu I believe one can just
  invoke bash like this (as the regular user):

  $ touch testrc
  $ env -i bash --noprofile --rcfile testrc

  The expected result would be that nothing special is printed on the
  terminal. However, there is an error message, which is printed from
  /etc/bash.bashrc. The "env -i" causes $HOME to not be set in the
  invoked shell, which in turn triggers the error. The error message is:

  > To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
  > See "man sudo_root" for details.

  Another way to see this -- without the "env -i" -- is to add  a
  command to /etc/bash.bashrc, such as

  echo HELLO THERE

  To trigger the bug(?), one can then just do

  $ touch testrc
  $ bash --noprofile --rcfile testrc

  The expected result would be that nothing special is shown in the
  terminal. However, it turns out that the string

  HELLO THERE

  is printed.

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