I can't reproduce that result. In particular, using the external command 
`echo start; sleep 5; echo done`

[download]
I see the expected timeout. With 
`echo start; sleep 0; echo done`

[download]
the result is the two echoed lines, again as expected.

Anno

In reply to Re: Backticks and SIGALRM by Anno
in thread Backticks and SIGALRM by nemo

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