Setting the record straight on SunOS 4.0 'fastfind'

[Ned Danieley]

(To the theme from "The Twilight Zone") Do de do do, do de do do.

It turns out that, at least under 3.5 [[ as early as 3.2, actually
--wnl ]], 'find' allowed (but Sun did not document) the 4.3 behaviour of

find filename

which depends on running /usr/lib/find/updatedb periodically; this sets up
a database of names, allowing 'find' to work VERY quickly. I found this
about a year ago, and told Sun; I think it even made it into an STB. Note
that /usr/lib/find exists under 4.0, but that the man page still doesn't
mention it, and that

find filename

only works as

find '*filename*'

As jbm says, Sun knows about it, and has acknowledged that it is a bug. It
seems to work under Sys4-3.2, so you probably could get 'find' from that
release and have it work.

Ned Danieley (ndd at sunbar.mc.duke.edu)
Basic Arrhythmia Laboratory
Box 3140, Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC  27710
(919) 684-6807 or 684-6942