Re: [RFC PATCH 3/3] FAQ: sync newuser-install

[Bart Schaefer <schaefer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 3:28 PM Roman Perepelitsa
<roman.perepelitsa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 11:57 PM Mikael Magnusson <mikachu@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > On 8/30/22, Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > reddit who had a configuration with HISTSIZE bigger than SAVEHIST.
> >
> > That is the correct configuration.
>
> This is my understanding as well. To be more specific, SAVEHIST
> greater than HISTSIZE is equivalent to its being equal to HISTSIZE.

Although it is true that only the most recent HISTSIZE entries from
HISTFILE will remain in the interactive history when a new shell
starts, there are cases where a larger SAVEHIST makes sense, typically
if you are using INC_APPEND_HISTORY or SHARE_HISTORY.  For example,
SAVEHIST determines how often the file is rewritten.  Combined with
HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS you might preserve some unique older entries when a
second shell is sharing the history.