dash: line editing + history via an in-tree static libedit (>=0.5.4)

alganet · alganet · commit 40609f31b4ed · 2026-06-23T06:42:06.000-03:00
dash built every version with -DSMALL, so it had no interactive line editing,
history or fc builtin. From 0.5.4 dash's configure offers --with-libedit, which
links the BSD editline library and undefines SMALL; 0.5.3 has no such option (it
hardcodes -DSMALL) and is left as-is. dash's configure AC_MSG_ERRORs if the flag
is passed without the library, so the library must exist first.

Add common/libedit.sh: a static libedit (pinned 20260512-3.1) built with
musl-cross against the in-tree static ncurses, mirroring common/ncurses.sh
(idempotent, fetch + checksums/sources/libedit/, shvr_libedit_cflags/ldflags).
Like ncurses it is fetched fresh and checksum-verified at build time; the tarball
itself is not committed (/build is gitignored).

Wire it into dash for &gt;=0.5.4: build libedit, pass --with-libedit, and supply the
include/lib paths. libedit needs a termcap implementation (tgetent) from ncurses,
which must be linked AFTER -ledit, but dash's configure appends "-ledit" last
(LIBS="-lncurses -ledit") -- the wrong static link order -- so the order is fixed
in the generated Makefile.

Verified across the full range on both arches: 0.5.4..0.5.13.4 now link libedit
(configure: "history_init in -ledit... yes") and gain emacs/vi editing, in-session
history recall and the fc builtin (interactive `fc -l` lists prior commands);
0.5.3 stays minimal (fc: not found) and its binary is byte-identical to before.
dash has no persistent HISTFILE -- that is not a dash feature. Regenerated
checksums/build/{amd64,arm64}/dash_* for the ten affected versions;
verify_build_checksums passes on both arches.
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.10.2/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.10.2/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1d64227c6ebb751b037e7c9d0b79ddac38a19c683d2fe2811b44857a8c5087db  dash
+e0a56b54a510eac3f7791982fe36a2892872e343c694d4336ab85065014228de  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.11.5/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.11.5/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-9f939a9e7a33c8b75573420b3f0b05fdf12fa37634c982078b433b7438639494  dash
+abb421cb2c050e54f69014bf25a8936769fef76055a134a9a55ab18cbeedb598  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.12/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.12/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-38119f5688ce8e8668663dca0bb985decc1f8da58a55274b35ababd309a3ec2b  dash
+26d07ae2a9a3657c31358fa7b99ac39f138a7a708647f17d7c94c53f17774922  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.13.4/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.13.4/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-fb5f5f8da531beaf436125d31d6d8eb4ebb36b173535e1da28079f82138a3b3f  dash
+400eb19c0240e5ab3b118f7af229fd598e3ecc8a537c1765ecf06b697c4bf26e  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.4/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.4/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-874d0822b87c80db3794682c92c0a156eee010420ecc529d6356845a6e9f4588  dash
+09ed78683f93131effe66533d74d56a649cd176f86c96f5767253badc7e86f8c  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.5.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.5.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-f1bd9e1042d907fc343e40f47afe7ffe47cf07f23223968fe7af0cfa58a67e71  dash
+0709eab2ec0a967cf7ee48afd5f171a00272eb54ceda9d6c9b086a8c3d67ed0c  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.6.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.6.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-b2579926a9fdb935602bfec2bf8a60b9f385fe8c2e739f8461f5744e3d07e2e2  dash
+7e9aaa5988caf8e04e858d53bfb771b2b57c78104ca22299610cd0ccf68faa8b  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.7/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.7/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-c82db231908b7ab43a813d5040c8426319ece2ba905780ba7e635825a8f82965  dash
+bf61d41bbb5f28324a20a66dbfb8543295a2e30a1ba224742a1eadfdd48c66fd  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.8/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.8/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-a96f45e137e041aaf928b9d8e1ebe8bb6f97723ff649d95c7512acf2a8415f89  dash
+9234359e29be4f1ed7dce65a6d5294ea18e2457cb26c4e37b4155e419d6fe9f5  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.9.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/amd64/dash_0.5.9.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-a04de4b8bccc26abce337f59a64de01a4872fdd02969485037c5965bae78831c  dash
+3d44097a1a42886f755bb86d9cc288558f69731c113ecfc6ab3e5734ebf02b16  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.10.2/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.10.2/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-23ae6b77bb55b46122443611cbfea117d41693302dc3bd912beafae420f9ce9e  dash
+02896fda4a01096841d653875e97be92be308f909cf036eac9d2cf582165534c  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.11.5/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.11.5/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-b40c56d96d275bd576e86b2c453e1cabab571cdcdf1a65916965709da0065893  dash
+8acb7ba53eec4f7e86b1dbc42187b727b0e82d278d6293736f2c282563c42532  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.12/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.12/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-df03d69786ade1607019e7a77ec89c10d25745cb79882cd358969e6609dffc5c  dash
+a8e377dba4ef8044e47d6e37ffeb8795d7cdb6690cf4bad32d30c7f002a9b61a  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.13.4/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.13.4/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-867037d7d2bbd9ca41a3bd3b705a96ed2556566624767cb5d26f4d0ca992448d  dash
+88b5853eee83b861687db66529ab97d7d843c9c116fe56a0cc958157445154da  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.4/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.4/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16bb48d08461e2e00dac4b3839d63d0e37050357af172ef5f410542b294871c0  dash
+956a61207e3dc947619667b0c5d0bb8b5edb405292f990844fe8395d95ebdd36  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.5.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.5.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-f9dcd04d583488a4623691f494ed9a8de1fbc6fbb6ae5f83a86c27afcb387d34  dash
+5e436b23a9a117eb3716a4c99bbc806ee0363cc7ae27cc31c1d69814e104cd26  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.6.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.6.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-7dea9fa90905eed1044047c83d8f6c3663da422d959406e0473de6d340d7d005  dash
+1f1061dc9a74e2154532c31df0774b499d21f87deb61e00631455220e9255047  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.7/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.7/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-14ce1c5e008969de7f2338ef5242101614797659aa030f156a51111dacc93a37  dash
+1a5c043caf21a2d7cbd183d1a3d2ab1d8c02ce2dc44f247cbf09b3d3756f6fba  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.8/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.8/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-8ecdf41bc050cf5aca06afa77e486c8ef68a5700a68cddf9ea8b13f724a4e103  dash
+3eacaf41f50458c7e93bba783b22f7735e6c3b2c6ea5c540fb4f8554f36ca242  dash
diff --git a/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.9.1/bin/dash.sha256sums b/checksums/build/arm64/dash_0.5.9.1/bin/dash.sha256sums
@@ -1 +1 @@
-dc10e5212a1719a86288a72b3f3d8aff1a84cc655b519f22d289584a5836329c  dash
+5eb623689b767c3087d2b53d37e5f3e5706aefbb6ca258bf155b5d49186718ef  dash
diff --git a/checksums/sources/libedit/libedit-20260512-3.1.tar.gz.sha256sums b/checksums/sources/libedit/libedit-20260512-3.1.tar.gz.sha256sums
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+432d5e7ea8b0116dd39f2eca7bc11d0eed77faa6b77ea526ace89907c23ea4a0  libedit-20260512-3.1.tar.gz
diff --git a/common/libedit.sh b/common/libedit.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Alexandre Gomes Gaigalas <alganet@gmail.com>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
+
+# Static libedit (the BSD editline line editor) built with musl-cross against the
+# in-tree static ncurses - pinned version for reproducible builds. Provides
+# histedit.h + libedit.a for shells that want BSD-licensed line editing/history
+# (e.g. dash --with-libedit).
+. "${SHVR_DIR_SELF}/common/ncurses.sh"
+
+SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION="20260512-3.1"
+SHVR_LIBEDIT_PREFIX="${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}-install"
+
+shvr_download_libedit ()
+{
+	mkdir -p "${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit"
+
+	if ! test -f "${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+	then
+		shvr_fetch \
+			"https://thrysoee.dk/editline/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}.tar.gz" \
+			"${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+	fi
+
+	# libedit links the terminal library; it uses our in-tree static ncurses.
+	shvr_download_ncurses
+}
+
+shvr_build_libedit ()
+{
+	if test -f "${SHVR_LIBEDIT_PREFIX}/lib/libedit.a"
+	then
+		return 0
+	fi
+
+	# libedit needs a termcap/terminfo library (tgetent); supply the in-tree one.
+	shvr_build_ncurses
+
+	libedit_srcdir="${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}-src"
+	mkdir -p "${libedit_srcdir}"
+
+	shvr_untar \
+		"${SHVR_DIR_SRC}/libedit/libedit-${SHVR_LIBEDIT_VERSION}.tar.gz" \
+		"${libedit_srcdir}"
+
+	cd "${libedit_srcdir}"
+
+	SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=1 \
+	TZ=UTC \
+	CC="$(shvr_musl_cc)" \
+	AR="$(shvr_musl_ar)" \
+	RANLIB="$(shvr_musl_ranlib)" \
+	CFLAGS="-static -frandom-seed=1 $(shvr_ncurses_cflags)" \
+	LDFLAGS="-Wl,--build-id=none $(shvr_ncurses_ldflags)" \
+	./configure \
+		--host="$(shvr_musl_target)" \
+		--prefix="${SHVR_LIBEDIT_PREFIX}" \
+		--disable-shared \
+		--enable-static
+
+	make -j"$(nproc)"
+	make install
+}
+
+shvr_libedit_cflags ()
+{
+	echo "-I${SHVR_LIBEDIT_PREFIX}/include"
+}
+
+shvr_libedit_ldflags ()
+{
+	echo "-L${SHVR_LIBEDIT_PREFIX}/lib"
+}
diff --git a/variants/dash.sh b/variants/dash.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
 
 . "${SHVR_DIR_SELF}/common/musl-cross-make.sh"
+. "${SHVR_DIR_SELF}/common/libedit.sh"
 
 shvr_static_dash ()
 {
@@ -54,6 +55,12 @@ shvr_download_dash ()
 	then
 		shvr_fetch "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/dash/dash.git/snapshot/dash-$version.tar.gz" "${build_srcdir}.tar.gz"
 	fi
+
+	# >=0.5.4 builds with the in-tree libedit for line editing/history.
+	case "$version" in
+	0.5.3) ;;
+	*)     shvr_download_libedit ;;
+	esac
 }
 
 shvr_build_dash ()
@@ -85,13 +92,38 @@ shvr_build_dash ()
 	export CFLAGS="-frandom-seed=1"
 	export LDFLAGS="-Wl,--build-id=none"
 
+	# Interactive line editing + history via libedit. dash gained --with-libedit
+	# at 0.5.4 (0.5.3 has no such option and hardcodes -DSMALL), and its configure
+	# AC_MSG_ERRORs if the flag is passed without the library, so we build the
+	# in-tree static libedit and pass the flag only for >=0.5.4. libedit needs a
+	# termcap implementation (tgetent) from the in-tree ncurses, linked AFTER
+	# -ledit; dash's configure appends "-ledit" last (LIBS="-lncurses -ledit"),
+	# which is the wrong static link order, so reorder it in the generated Makefile.
+	libedit_flag=
+	case "$version" in
+	0.5.3) ;;
+	*)
+		shvr_build_libedit
+		cd "${build_srcdir}"
+		libedit_flag="--with-libedit"
+		export CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} $(shvr_libedit_cflags)"
+		export LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS} $(shvr_libedit_ldflags) $(shvr_ncurses_ldflags)"
+		export LIBS="-lncurses"
+		;;
+	esac
+
 	./configure \
 		--host="$(shvr_musl_target)" \
+		$libedit_flag \
 		--prefix="${SHVR_DIR_OUT}/dash_$version"
 
+	if test -n "$libedit_flag"
+	then sed -i 's/-lncurses -ledit/-ledit -lncurses/' src/Makefile
+	fi
+
 	make
 
-	unset SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH TZ CC AR RANLIB CFLAGS LDFLAGS
+	unset SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH TZ CC AR RANLIB CFLAGS LDFLAGS LIBS
 
 	mkdir -p "${SHVR_DIR_OUT}/dash_${version}/bin"
 	cp "src/dash" "${SHVR_DIR_OUT}/dash_$version/bin/dash"

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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-1d64227c6ebb751b037e7c9d0b79ddac38a19c683d2fe2811b44857a8c5087db dash`
	`1`	`+e0a56b54a510eac3f7791982fe36a2892872e343c694d4336ab85065014228de dash`
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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-9f939a9e7a33c8b75573420b3f0b05fdf12fa37634c982078b433b7438639494 dash`
	`1`	`+abb421cb2c050e54f69014bf25a8936769fef76055a134a9a55ab18cbeedb598 dash`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-38119f5688ce8e8668663dca0bb985decc1f8da58a55274b35ababd309a3ec2b dash`
	`1`	`+26d07ae2a9a3657c31358fa7b99ac39f138a7a708647f17d7c94c53f17774922 dash`
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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-fb5f5f8da531beaf436125d31d6d8eb4ebb36b173535e1da28079f82138a3b3f dash`
	`1`	`+400eb19c0240e5ab3b118f7af229fd598e3ecc8a537c1765ecf06b697c4bf26e dash`
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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-874d0822b87c80db3794682c92c0a156eee010420ecc529d6356845a6e9f4588 dash`
	`1`	`+09ed78683f93131effe66533d74d56a649cd176f86c96f5767253badc7e86f8c dash`
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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-f1bd9e1042d907fc343e40f47afe7ffe47cf07f23223968fe7af0cfa58a67e71 dash`
	`1`	`+0709eab2ec0a967cf7ee48afd5f171a00272eb54ceda9d6c9b086a8c3d67ed0c dash`
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`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-b2579926a9fdb935602bfec2bf8a60b9f385fe8c2e739f8461f5744e3d07e2e2 dash`
	`1`	`+7e9aaa5988caf8e04e858d53bfb771b2b57c78104ca22299610cd0ccf68faa8b dash`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-c82db231908b7ab43a813d5040c8426319ece2ba905780ba7e635825a8f82965 dash`
	`1`	`+bf61d41bbb5f28324a20a66dbfb8543295a2e30a1ba224742a1eadfdd48c66fd dash`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-a96f45e137e041aaf928b9d8e1ebe8bb6f97723ff649d95c7512acf2a8415f89 dash`
	`1`	`+9234359e29be4f1ed7dce65a6d5294ea18e2457cb26c4e37b4155e419d6fe9f5 dash`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -1 +1 @@`
`1`		`-a04de4b8bccc26abce337f59a64de01a4872fdd02969485037c5965bae78831c dash`
	`1`	`+3d44097a1a42886f755bb86d9cc288558f69731c113ecfc6ab3e5734ebf02b16 dash`