UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I don't see the sense in when GLOBIGNORE is set to some non null, then .* doesn't match . and ..
(and when GLOBIGNORE is null, then .* will match . and .. )

The above is true regardless of whether dotglob is on or off.

What is the sense behind that aspect of GLOBIGNORE?

(I may have got that wrong, i'm new to this)
I don't know if this q should be in the advanced or shell scripting section.

thanks

See what the faq has to say on GLOBIGNORE - 3.5.8 Filename Expansion

I read that long ago, I understand the logic.

But I don't see the sense in it

Actually, the FAQ you listed to has what I think is an old bash manual that may even be wrong

The old one mentioned in that FAQ says
".....The filenames `.' and `..' are always ignored, even when GLOBIGNORE is set. .... "

try
unset GLOBIGNORE
echo .*

it doesn't ignore . and ..

whereas when GLOBIGNORE is set, echo .* , you'll see it does ignore . and ..

The one mentioned in my copy of cygwin is not wrong

"...from the list of matches. The file names ``.'' and ``..'' are always
ignored when GLOBIGNORE is set and not null. However, setting GLOBIGNORE to a non-null value has the effect of enabling the dotglob shell...."

Anyhow, as I said, I see the logic of it but not the sense in it.