chad_trying_not_to_be_an_idiot_on_##bash

thewoolleyman: # export a=1 && eval 'sudo' '/usr/bin/env a=2 echo $a'
[11:26am] evalbot: thewoolleyman: bash: sudo: command not found
[11:26am] sn18: kolpur: because thats not positional parameter
[11:26am] thewoolleyman: why does that print '1'  instead of '2'?
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[11:26am] taylanub: 'foo=bar echo $foo' won't work because echo itself doesn't expand the variable
[11:27am] taylanub: echo has no clue of variables, the $foo gets turned into what it is in the shell's eyes
[11:27am] thewoolleyman: how is $a getting through the sudo whitelist then?
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[11:28am] pragma_: what does sudo have to do with bash variables?
[11:31am] trash: thewoolleyman: Because your exported it.
[11:32am] thewoolleyman: trash: sudo has a whitelist for variables, $a shouldn't get passed through unless it is allowed in sudoers (which it isn't)
[11:32am] geirha: And eval expanded it
[11:32am] thewoolleyman: oh eval did it
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[11:33am] geirha: Neither sudo, env nor echo does anything with $var
[11:34am] thewoolleyman: so my goal is to get an existing variable value available in the sudo context.  Is there any way to do that without hacking setenv in sudoers?
[11:34am] geirha: sudo env foo=bar bash -c '...'
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[11:38am] thewoolleyman: geirha: sudo can't run env, it isn't a command
[11:39am] thewoolleyman: but you guys gave me some ideas, thanks
[11:39am] prince_jammys: mm
[11:39am] lhunath: thewoolleyman: yes, it is.
[11:39am] prince_jammys: SUDO_COMMAND=/usr/bin/env
[11:39am] prince_jammys: SUDO_USER=mischa
[11:39am] lhunath: # type env
[11:39am] evalbot: lhunath: env is /bin/env
[11:40am] pragma_: hey, thewoolleyman clearly has a belief system he wishes to adhere to.
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[11:40am] pragma_: Who are you to tell him what he can or can't do with env?
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[11:40am] prince_jammys: we're the environmental police.
[11:41am] lhunath: hehe.
[11:41am] thewoolleyman: ok, I type:  sudo '/usr/bin/env a=1 echo xxx'
[11:41am] thewoolleyman: and get: sudo: /usr/bin/env a=1 echo xxx: command not found
[11:42am] thewoolleyman: what command is it telling me isn't found?
[11:42am] lhunath: because that isn't a program.
[11:42am] pragma_: the '/usr/bin/env a=1 echo xxx' command
[11:42am] prince_jammys: thewoolleyman: stop quoting the whole thign
[11:42am] pragma_: # ls '/usr/bin/env a=1 echo xxx'
[11:42am] evalbot: pragma_: ls: cannot access /usr/bin/env a=1 echo xxx: No such file or directory
[11:42am] thewoolleyman: But is says USE MORE QUOTES a the top of the page!!! 
[11:43am] lhunath: quotes say: "all of this is one single thing."  you don't have a program in /usr/bin named "env a=1 echo xxx"
[11:43am] thewoolleyman: ok
[11:43am] lhunath: you have one named env, which takes arguemnts.
[11:43am] lhunath: quote the arguments (if necessary)
[11:43am] prince_jammys: however, echo $foo like this ain't gonna work
[11:44am] prince_jammys: it seems some recent-ish sudos understand  sudo foo=bar command, too.
[11:44am] lhunath: indeed.  it's important to know what the difference between a shell statement and a command invocation is.
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[11:45am] lhunath: echo (the program in your PATH) doesn't know what '$foo' means, other than, 'dollar', 'f', 'o', 'o'.
[11:45am] lhunath: $foo is SHELL syntax; so give it to a shell.
[11:45am] lhunath: bash is a shell.  so that would work:  sudo env a=1 bash -c 'echo $a'
[11:45am] lhunath: !args > thewoolleyman
[11:45am] greybot: thewoolleyman: Understanding Arguments and Word Splitting: http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Arguments
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[11:46am] thewoolleyman: lhunath: ok thanks a lot