I'm also a big fan of doing it the wrong way. (While I understand there is no practical difference) I find it more natural, because it's symmetrical (or paralle

I'm also a big fan of doing it the wrong way. (While I understand there is no practical difference) I find it more natural, because it's symmetrical (or parallel: $ < file util1 | util2 | util3 | ... The first util is the originator of the data pipeline, and it plus the file are the first command $ cat file | util1 | ... Each utility is it's own thing, being fed a data stream that came from cat. I know it's just personal preference but it feels neater