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    Note that although [ was originally an external command, it was added as a built-in to the shell quite early on, probably by the time Unix System III was released and definitely before Unix System V was released. So, the 'extra process' hasn't been a problem for ages. However, the syntax remained unchanged — it was treated as if it would be an external command. Commented Feb 10, 2015 at 6:15
  • @JonathanLeffler Oh, thanks, I missed that [ is both - that means some changes... Commented Feb 10, 2015 at 6:46