> I don't want to have any output from a script unless it requires my attention. I lean this way, too. That said, a rare "this may take a while" before things

> I don't want to have any output from a script unless it requires my attention. I lean this way, too. That said, a rare "this may take a while" before things that may take a while might do more good than harm. Another option is letting the user ask for a status update (maybe with a signal, like dd?).