Re: Discussion about why GNU/Linux system upgrades cause old programs to break

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  > No, the reason this fails is because 'gets' was pulled from C and POSIX
  > at some point (I think C11 and POSIX 2008, but I did not double check
  > the latter).

Thank you.  I don't keep close track of changes in those standards.

  > When compiling with -std=c11 or newer, or when compiling with
  > _GNU_SOURCE (as that enables the newest set of features despite the
  > dialect flag), the declaration is not provided, thus this fails.

I think that is a mistake.  _GNU_SOURCE means to enable GNU extensions.
It should NOT mean to exclude anything!

  > Especially as glibc already marks 'gets' as deprecated, and emits a
  > warning on use:

The helpful thing to do about `gets' is to issue a warning when anyone
calls it.  Since glibc is already doing this, omitting `gets' entirely
can only cause extra breakage, it can't help anyone.

  > I am not sure, but I have a feeling that the removal from C99 with
  > _GNU_SOURCE was likely not intended (at least, I don't see the use in
  > doing so personally).

It seems we agree.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)