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No, the shell author needed some way to distinguish file descriptor 1 from a file named "1" (note that 2>1 means to write stderr to the file named "1"), and '&'
by jibal 8mo ago
No, the shell author needed some way to distinguish file descriptor 1 from a file named "1" (note that 2>1 means to write stderr to the file named "1"), and '&' was one of the few available characters. It's not the address of anything.
To be consistent, it would be &2>&1, but that makes it more verbose than necessary and actually means something else -- the first & means that the command before it runs asynchronously.
- kazinator 8mo agoIt's not inconsistent. The & is attached to the redirection operator, not to the 1 token. The file descriptor being redirected is also attached: Thus you cannot write: 2 > &1 You also cannot write 2 >& 1 However you may write 2>& 1 The n>& is one clump.