help output is misleading re nvm install argument order

[62f]

I'm not familiar with "ash" as a shell, what is k? @62f can you file a new issue?

Originally posted by @ljharb in #1950 (comment)

bash-5.0# nvm install 14.10.0 --latest-npm
Downloading and installing node v14.10.0...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.10.0/node-v14.10.0-linux-x86.tar.xz...
curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 404                                     

Binary download from https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.10.0/node-v14.10.0-linux-x86.tar.xz failed, trying source.
grep: /root/.nvm/.cache/bin/node-v14.10.0-linux-x86/node-v14.10.0-linux-x86.tar.xz: No such file or directory
Provided file to checksum does not exist.
Binary download failed, trying source.
Additional options while compiling:  --latest-npm
Local cache found: $NVM_DIR/.cache/src/node-v14.10.0/node-v14.10.0.tar.xz
Checksums match! Using existing downloaded archive $NVM_DIR/.cache/src/node-v14.10.0/node-v14.10.0.tar.xz
$>./configure --prefix=/root/.nvm/versions/node/v14.10.0 --latest-npm<
Node.js configure: Found Python 2.7.18...
Usage: configure [options]

configure: error: no such option: --latest-npm
nvm: install v14.10.0 failed!
bash-5.0# nvm --version
0.34.0
bash-5.0# nvm debug
nvm --version: v0.34.0
$SHELL: /bin/ash
$SHLVL: 12
$HOME: /root
$NVM_DIR: '$HOME/.nvm'
$PATH: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v9.11.2/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/local/go/bin
$PREFIX: ''
$NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
<Bash-5.0 unexpectedly gives up at this point and exits to without any prefix/prompt to ash, the standard cl shell for Alpine 3.12, a bug which is not being considered as part of this issue; I typed ‘k’ only as a test to determine the response>

[ljharb]

This is all quite confusing.

The initial 404 is confusing since https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.10.0/node-v14.10.0-linux-x86.tar.xz exists.

Additionally, configure: error: no such option: --latest-npm is confusing since --latest-npm should be shifted before being passed to configure.

What is ash? Have you tried on bash 4, or only on bash 5?

[62f]

I only have one option for a Bash binary in Alpine. At boot I load zsh, but the zsh they build for Alpine is not Bourne-compatible.
https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.10.0
No, node-v14.10.0-linux-x86.tar.xz does not exist, but that is not the problem. The problem is that configure does not recognize an option which is clearly documented directly in its own —help.

[62f]

Just typed ‘export $PATH’ into the rogue ash/AWOL bash, because the environment variables were missing, and what I suppose was supposed to follow my “k” spontaneously got coughed up, and Bash resurrected itself, probably not related to the issue, but here’s the rest of that diagnostic info, I think.

export $PATH
/bin/ash: export: line 4: /root/.nvm/versions/node/v9.11.2/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/local/go/bin: bad variable name
'hell version: 'HTTP/2 200 
uname -a: 'Linux 4.20.69-ish iSH 1.0 (74) Aug 17 2020 23:29:03 i686 Linux'
OS version: Welcome to Alpine Linux 3.12
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 7.69.1 (i586-alpine-linux-musl) libcurl/7.69.1 OpenSSL/1.1.1g zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.41.0
wget: /usr/bin/wget, GNU Wget 1.20.3 built on linux-musl.
git: /usr/bin/git, git version 2.26.2
grep: unrecognized option: version
BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary.

Usage: grep [-HhnlLoqvsriwFE] [-m N] [-A/B/C N] PATTERN/-e PATTERN.../-f FILE [FILE]...

Search for PATTERN in FILEs (or stdin)

        -H      Add 'filename:' prefix
        -h      Do not add 'filename:' prefix
        -n      Add 'line_no:' prefix
        -l      Show only names of files that match
        -L      Show only names of files that don't match
        -c      Show only count of matching lines
        -o      Show only the matching part of line
        -q      Quiet. Return 0 if PATTERN is found, 1 otherwise
        -v      Select non-matching lines
        -s      Suppress open and read errors
        -r      Recurse
        -i      Ignore case
        -w      Match whole words only
        -x      Match whole lines only
        -F      PATTERN is a literal (not regexp)
        -E      PATTERN is an extended regexp
        -m N    Match up to N times per file
        -A N    Print N lines of trailing context
        -B N    Print N lines of leading context
        -C N    Same as '-A N -B N'
        -e PTRN Pattern to match
        -f FILE Read pattern from file
grep: /bin/grep, 
awk: /usr/bin/awk, GNU Awk 5.1.0, API: 3.0
sed: /bin/sed, This is not GNU sed version 4.0
cut: unrecognized option: version
BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary.

Usage: cut [OPTIONS] [FILE]...

Print selected fields from each input FILE to stdout

        -b LIST Output only bytes from LIST
        -c LIST Output only characters from LIST
        -d CHAR Use CHAR instead of tab as the field delimiter
        -s      Output only the lines containing delimiter
        -f N    Print only these fields
        -n      Ignored
cut: /usr/bin/cut, 
basename: /usr/bin/basename, --version
rm: unrecognized option: version
BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary.

Usage: rm [-irf] FILE...

Remove (unlink) FILEs

        -i      Always prompt before removing
        -f      Never prompt
        -R,-r   Recurse
rm: /bin/rm, 
mkdir: unrecognized option: version
BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary.

Usage: mkdir [OPTIONS] DIRECTORY...

Create DIRECTORY

        -m MODE Mode
        -p      No error if exists; make parent directories as needed
mkdir: /bin/mkdir, 
xargs: unrecognized option: version
BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary.

Usage: xargs [OPTIONS] [PROG ARGS]

Run PROG on every item given by stdin

        -0      Input is separated by NULs
        -a FILE Read from FILE instead of stdin
        -r      Don't run command if input is empty
        -t      Print the command on stderr before execution
        -p      Ask user whether to run each command
        -E STR,-e[STR]  STR stops input processing
        -I STR  Replace STR within PROG ARGS with input line
        -n N    Pass no more than N args to PROG
        -s N    Pass command line of no more than N bytes
        -P N    Run up to N PROGs in parallel
        -x      Exit if size is exceeded
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs, 
nvm current: 
which node: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v9.11.2/bin/node
which iojs: 
which npm: 
npm config get prefix: bash: npm: command not found
npm root -g: bash: npm: command not found

[ljharb]

There's a lot of errors happening that shouldn't be - it's possible ash isn't POSIX-compliant. grep --version and xargs --version and a number of others don't seem to work.

Also, you want export PATH, not export $PATH (which tries to export the contents of the variable as the env var name).

[62f]

You’re being distracted by the scientific wizardry which I use for sanity checks. Science.
I simply postulated that my CLI appeared to be hung and proved myself correct by entering a letter (k) as a diagnostic. Likewise when odd things are happening, I sometimes issue a bad command (export $PATH) as ‘electroshock-therapy’, and that’s when the experiment caused ash to simply be materialized out of nowhere- it was just quietly sitting there already, but without the usual salutary-prompt. Ash didn’t have anything to do with the unrecognized options in grep or xargs because those binaries are called from within BusyBox v1.31.1 () multi-call binary, not ash, bash, nor zsh, and even so, Bash 5.0 was presumably still running underneath Busybox.
However I would be amazed to be told that this were not at all true: or that bash is just a dumb wrapper for ash, or that Busybox binaries are really supposed to inherit specific Posix ‘extra-functionality boost’ in Bash/zsh/foo versus -ash.

[ljharb]

I'm going to have to beg ignorance here. I'm not at all familiar with BusyBox, or ash, or even Bash 5.0.

However, testing locally, nvm install 14.10.0 --latest-npm does indeed pass --latest-npm to the node install process, while nvm install --latest-npm 14.10.0 works fine. I think this is just a legacy limitation of nvm install - namely, that all "install" options have to appear before the version number, since everything after the version number is treated as an additional installation configuration parameter.

[62f]

Legacy limitation, ergo I’ve got ahold of an old copy of nvm.
nvm install -s --latest-npm 14.10.0
appears to work fine, and soon as it finishes I’ll take out the -s, because my impression was that the error was mishandling of the —latest-npm parameter after being unexpectedly failed over to build from source.

‘Last stand perk activated’

[ljharb]

I don’t mean you have an old nvm, i mean that “the original way nvm install was implemented” constrains all future versions of nvm.

[62f]

Bash-5.0# nvm install --latest-npm 14.10.0
Also appears to work without complaint, so this whole issue is being caused by the way the offline help is written: To me it reads as requiring the version number to appear before the —parameters, when parameters are added. It’s not penultimately crystal-clear to me that the version number needs always to appear last. In fact, the functional order describes the opposite. Needs badly to be rewritten.
bash-5.0# nvm --version
0.34.0

[62f]

trying to do npm uninstall npm -g and then nvm install v9.9.0 --latest-npm

Originally posted by @talbarda in npm/npm#20234 (comment)

[ljharb]

That's a fair point; i'll look into improving the help output there.