So, with the key-value pairs sorted by both, I resumed testing for Python 3.1.13 and encountered failing T380 which gave me some a deja-vue due to its confusing messages:

```
T380-atomicity: Testing atomicity
cat: outcount: No such file or directory
/builddir/build/BUILD/notmuch-0.38.1/test/T380-atomicity.sh: line 79: ((: i < : syntax error: operand expected (error token is "< ")
 PASS   "notmuch new" is idempotent under arbitrary aborts
 FAIL   detected >10 abort points
        test  -gt 10
/builddir/build/BUILD/notmuch-0.38.1/test/test-lib.sh: line 701: test: -gt: unary operator expected
```

And that is why this is a reply to the old thread where I suggested making this less confusing, because everything reported is not the actual failure, but the consequence of not safe-guarding against a failed test setup.

The *real cause* is most likely that `import gdb` fails in `atomicity.py` because it's not ready for py 3.13 yet.

But maybe it's time to reconsider some bits of the old series? We ended up discussing "echo vs printf" and never addressed the real issues here.

Cheers,
Michael

P.S.: There are also a few lines like 
```
Error: database path '/builddir/build/BUILD/notmuch-0.38.1/test/tmp.T400-hooks/database.85' does not exist or is not a directory.
```
sprinkled in the test output between PASS tests, apparently without making any test fail. I don't know whether I never noticed for a apassing test suite, or whether this is new.