printf -a results in `printf: -a: unknown option`

[Aiz0]

sys info:
fish, version 3.5.1
Linux 5.18.16-arch1-1
Terminal: foot

Tested with sh -c 'env HOME=$(mktemp -d) fish' and by prepending them by builtin

executing printf -a results in the following error

printf: -a: unknown option

(Type 'help printf' for related documentation)

From the fish documentation about printf
It doesn’t support any options, so there is no need for a -- separator, which makes it easier to use for arbitrary input than echo

executing printf -- -a works

typing printf -- and pressing tab fish suggest --help and --version as options

executing printf --help results in the man page for printf being brought up.

printf --version does not work (unknown option)

I would expect printf to not take any options and print -a without issue.

[faho]

Broken in 9e08609, which misguidedly decided that printf's argument parsing must be normal (as a minor addition to a separate commit).

The workaround is easy: Just use printf %s -a. This is also recommended because the argument could accidentally include something that formats.