16 Sep
2024
16 Sep
'24
2:43 a.m.
Early on, here in Faraway Land, I was told Unix command naming rules were these:
however can’t recall seeing it written:
2-7 chars - ie. short + reserved single chars for personal use
lower case
non-dictionary words - allowing 3rd party software a clear run
Of course, “sort” fails those rules :)
BSD didn’t use those rules (backup & restore).
For non touch typists, shorter commands & keywords are helpful.
On 16 Sep 2024, at 05:21, Rik Farrow
<rik(a)rikfarrow.com> wrote:
Was the brevity typical of Unix command names a function of the tiny disk and memory
available? Or more a function of having a Teletype 33 for input? Of course, it could
simply be that 'cat' is more convenient than 'catenate'...
Rik
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Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design
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