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Any particular reason why you don't just install GNU coreutils via brew et. al? I also develop on macOS for Linux and using the GNU equivalents with a quick fu
by dapids 6y ago
Any particular reason why you don't just install GNU coreutils via brew et. al?
I also develop on macOS for Linux and using the GNU equivalents with a quick function for path setting, is well, not very hard.
- deeblering4 6y agoI truly cannot stand “any reason why you don’t” questions. They immediately make me defensive. I’m far more open to alternate approaches when they are laid out in a clear, detailed and unbiased way. Mutual respect and all that.
- MereInterest 6y agoI am fine with "any reason why you don't" questions. Being asked one assumes that I am aware of the options, have gone through the pros and cons, and have made a decision on the matter. Clearly, I must have some reason for the decision, and so the person wants to know what reason that may be. Mutual respect and all that. Layout out alternate approaches assumes that I haven't done any research into the matter at all. It may be that the reason I don't use something is that I have never heard of it, in which case having the alternate approaches laid out is useful. Otherwise, it is a waste of the person's time to lay out what may already be known.
- ianai 6y agoThe phrasing though sounds like I’ve better got to know about it “or else”.
- MereInterest 6y agoHmm, different connotations for different people, I guess. The phrasing to me sounds like a junior dev asking a senior dev why something was implemented the way it was, for the sake of learning. Thank you for letting me know how the phrasing could be interpreted, and I'll try to keep that in mind when asking similar questions in the future.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- selestify 6y agoIs there a better way to phrase that question?
- irrational 6y agoHave you considered installing GNU coreutils via brew et. al?
- rocqua 6y agoThat is a great way to give the suggestion. It is not a great way to check what the reasons are why they did not. Something like "Have you considered installing GNU coreutils? If so, I wonder what made you choose not to" might do the job. But really "Any reason why you didn't install GNU coreutils via brew" seems to directly ask the question. It can come across a bit passive aggressive. But I don't think we should concede clear questions to passive aggresiveness.
- lifeisstillgood 6y ago"I would have gone with (installing MSDOS), what were your reasons for going the other way?"
- selestify 6y agoWhat if, as a junior developer, you don’t have an opinion either way and just want to know how they do things?
- lifeisstillgood 6y agoEveryone has reasons - from "that's what the code I pasted from StackOverflow did" to "this is what the standards doc I wrote decided upon after months of rewriting" Forcing you to examine your reasoning usually results in better understanding
- mumblemumble 6y agoI could, but then I end up with everyone else on the team (also developing on Mac) being confused about why my shell scripts don't run on their computers.
- mumblemumble 6y agoI am getting the weirdest downvotes. Is the BOFH a member of HN, and currently getting offended that I'm trying to be courteous to my colleagues about how I write my shell scripts?
- codpiece 6y agoI wouldn't worry about it. Maybe they thought they were upvoting in Linux.
- oefnak 6y agoThen tell them you installed GNU coteutils, and recommend them to do the same.
- dehrmann 6y agoAside: has anyone else switch from Brew to MacPorts after one too many permission issues with Brew?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- protomyth 6y agoI tried Brew because it is always mentioned, but I went back to MacPorts because I found it easier (especially their version of flavors) and the permission issues.
- kps 6y agoAny particular reason why you don't just install BSD utils via pkgsrc et al?