From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 0f569317 for ; Sun, 5 Jan 2020 00:48:11 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 243619B48B; Sun, 5 Jan 2020 10:48:10 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6CABD951B5; Sun, 5 Jan 2020 10:47:41 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 0F1019516C; Sun, 5 Jan 2020 10:47:39 +1000 (AEST) X-Greylist: delayed 2648 seconds by postgrey-1.36 at minnie.tuhs.org; Sun, 05 Jan 2020 10:47:38 AEST Received: from knecht.neophilic.com (knecht.neophilic.com [70.36.157.234]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5207395165 for ; Sun, 5 Jan 2020 10:47:38 +1000 (AEST) Received: from rieux.neophilic.com (rieux.neophilic.com [10.0.2.35]) (authenticated bits=0) by knecht.neophilic.com (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPSA id 00503QOw002566 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NO); Sat, 4 Jan 2020 16:03:26 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from tuhs@eric.allman.name) To: Jon Steinhart References: <202001040258.0042wuic1359237@mail.cs.dartmouth.edu> <1ingL0-5g6-00@marmaro.de> <202001042106.004L69C1448350@darkstar.fourwinds.com> From: Eric Allman Message-ID: <026e2abb-fe04-4186-d3b2-0f32109d323a@neophilic.com> Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2020 16:03:26 -0800 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.13; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.9.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <202001042106.004L69C1448350@darkstar.fourwinds.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] sh: cmd | >file X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" I contacted Steve --- he is on the list, and says he'll weigh in. eric On 2020-01-04 13:06, Jon Steinhart wrote: > Dave Horsfall writes: >> On Sat, 4 Jan 2020, markus schnalke wrote: >> >>> My question was not about the use cases for ``>file'' but *why* it was >>> made a simple command. Let me explain: >>> >>> One creates an empty file or truncates a file with: >>> >>> >file >>> >>> why not with: >>> >>> :>file >>> ? >>> >>> To me it looks to be the more sensible ... more regular way. >> >> The Unix philosophy, perhaps i.e. keep it simple? Why have ":" (an actual >> internal Shell command) when "" (the null command) will do the job? >> >> I guess only the Bell Labs bods here can answer this. >> >> -- Dave > > Don't know if Steve Bourne is on this list, but he's been a great source > of information when I've had questions about why the shell did things the > way it did. > > Jon >