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Those case differences have meaning, -r is generally not dangerous while -R is; it's capitalized to make you stop and say hmmm, should I do this. All commands
by gnaritas 12y ago
Those case differences have meaning, -r is generally not dangerous while -R is; it's capitalized to make you stop and say hmmm, should I do this. All commands have the same flag language, command -options, and are all easily documented by man command; it quite literally couldn't get any simpler and unnecessary to memorize since you can look up any flag on any command with the same man command. Those who find it confusing haven't spent the least bit of effort actually trying because it's actually very simple and extremely consistent.
- lmm 12y ago> Those case differences have meaning, -r is generally not dangerous while -R is; it's capitalized to make you stop and say hmmm, should I do this. All commands have the same flag language Except with cp , -R is the safe one and -r is the dangerous one. And there are tons of little inconsistencies like this.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoThat's exactly my point.
- gnaritas 12y agoAs I said, generally. All human languages have inconsistencies, the command line is by far one of the most consistent ones any of us deal with.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoIt may be more consistent, but is not easier - humans are generous with regard to input, they can infer intentions from context. I could type in "please unbork this" to a human and he'd know precisely that he has to a) untargzip it, b) change the directory structure and c) upload it to a shared directory for our team.
- gnaritas 12y agoWelcome to working with computers that can't think; easier is not an option, they can't infer your intentions, so your point is what? Consistency is what matters when working with machines and the command line is a damn consistent language relative to other available options.