sort: possible bug with `-b'/`-M' option combination

[Ken Neighbors]

The documentation for my version of GNU sort (textutils 2.0) states:

  The `-b' option may be independently attached to either or both of
  the `+POS' and `-POS' parts of a field specification, and if it is
  inherited from the global options it will be attached to both.

However, when I specify the `-b' option globally, then it is not
attached to both parts of the field specification.

For example, given this text file:

  date: 05/Jun/2001
  date: 30/May/2001

The following commands act differently:

  $ sort -b -k2.4,2.6M test
  date: 05/Jun/2001
  date: 30/May/2001

  $ sort -k2.4b,2.6Mb test
  date: 30/May/2001
  date: 05/Jun/2001

Let me know if you need more information.  I am running this on the
current "unstable" version of Debian GNU/Linux, which I believe is
called "sid".

Ken