wc count field widths now are heuristically adjusted depending

on the input size, if known.  If only one count is printed, it
is guaranteed to be printed without leading spaces.

Previously, wc did not align the count fields if
POSIXLY_CORRECT was set, but POSIX did not actually require
this undesirable behavior, so it has been removed.

* doc/coreutils.texi (wc invocation): Likewise.

diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index 0e8b19076491cc2f476953588c9fae30509af1a6..0703ec2b718369683089aeb51a440951c3e74a1e 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -2532,17 +2532,17 @@ wc [@var{option}]@dots{} [@var{file}]@dots{}
 @end example
 
 @cindex total counts
-@vindex POSIXLY_CORRECT
 @command{wc} prints one line of counts for each file, and if the file was
 given as an argument, it prints the file name following the counts.  If
 more than one @var{file} is given, @command{wc} prints a final line
 containing the cumulative counts, with the file name @file{total}.  The
 counts are printed in this order: newlines, words, characters, bytes.
-By default, each count is output right-justified in a 7-byte field with
-one space between fields so that the numbers and file names line up nicely
-in columns.  However, @acronym{POSIX} requires that there be exactly one space
-separating columns.  You can make @command{wc} use the @acronym{POSIX}-mandated
-output format by setting the @env{POSIXLY_CORRECT} environment variable.
+Each count is printed right-justified in a field with at least one
+space between fields so that the numbers and file names normally line
+up nicely in columns.  The width of the count fields varies depending
+on the inputs, so you should not depend on a particular field width.
+However, as a @acronym{GNU} extension, if only one count is printed,
+it is guaranteed to be printed without leading spaces.
 
 By default, @command{wc} prints three counts: the newline, words, and byte
 counts.  Options can specify that only certain counts be printed.