From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 5770 invoked from network); 31 Jul 2021 18:58:41 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 31 Jul 2021 18:58:41 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 413289CA40; Sun, 1 Aug 2021 04:58:38 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C49AA9C9B2; Sun, 1 Aug 2021 04:58:11 +1000 (AEST) Authentication-Results: minnie.tuhs.org; dkim=fail reason="key not found in DNS" (0-bit key; secure) header.d=mail.malbolge.net header.i=@mail.malbolge.net header.b="vqFX4Ml0"; dkim-atps=neutral Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id C766C9C9B2; Sun, 1 Aug 2021 04:58:07 +1000 (AEST) Received: from poseidon.malbolge.net (hera.malbolge.net [185.232.68.32]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 075119C9AF for ; Sun, 1 Aug 2021 04:58:05 +1000 (AEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; s=_domainkey; bh=L8nXrxobR gIdn1+2GmZEvp86044o5Vc0iLq6C3+dw/g=; h=references:in-reply-to:subject: cc:to:from:date; d=mail.malbolge.net; b=vqFX4Ml0qClWk1xubxm3FXFYAX1Itb y18wgvtJGiBKq1UuPIJX9aLwyCtaVKMDmQMle6rYWkaBu5o46l/TFUxVOs7HQgiZewsDRj LMlx2JLK4ZN03zCHWzSDZ94Ko2vBXBXrnkEGmHan5XApg2AWitLurfmwAKZ/8UeeI31bsX 4= Received: from hermes.malbolge.net (hermes.malbolge.net [192.168.123.201]) by poseidon.malbolge.net (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 3b9dbb86; Sat, 31 Jul 2021 20:58:02 +0200 (CEST) Received: from moon (hera.malbolge.net [10.0.11.1]) by hermes.malbolge.net (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 679651C39DA; Sat, 31 Jul 2021 20:58:02 +0200 (CEST) Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2021 20:56:09 +0200 From: Michael Siegel To: Anthony Martin Message-ID: <20210731205609.07e8149f@moon> In-Reply-To: References: <20210731142533.69caf929@moon> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] Systematic approach to command-line interfaces 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: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Am Sat, 31 Jul 2021 10:30:18 -0700 schrieb Anthony Martin : > Michael Siegel once said: > > So, I've prepared a bit of a write-up, pondering on the pros and > > cons of two different ways of having task-specific tool sets > > (non-hierarchical command sets vs. sub-commands) that is available > > at > > > > https://www.msiism.org/files/doc/unix-like_command-line_interfaces.html > > > > I tend to think the sub-command approach is better. But I'm neither > > a UI nor a Unix expert and have no formal training in computer > > things. So, I thought this would be a good place to ask for comment > > (and get some historical perspective). > > You're missing the approach taken in Plan 9 (and > 10th edition Unix): put related commands in a > directory and use a shell that doesn't restrict > the first argument of a command to a single path > element. > > This lets you execute commands like: > > auth/as > disk/prep > git/rebase > ip/ping > ndb/dns > upas/send > > without having a prefix on every command name or > single large binaries with every command linked > in as subcommands. Thanks for pointing this out. I had no idea. Unfortunately(?), I'm looking to make my life easier on more "Unix-like Unix-like systems" (for want of a better term), for the time being (Linux, BSD, maybe illumos). (I mean, which shell would I use to accomplish this on Unix?) And, as has already been pointed out, this approach doesn't allow for global command options before sub-commands, which pretty much defeats the sub-command approach altogether UI-wise, I'd say. Unrelated: I'm still having some technical difficulties with this list, namely that I don't receive any mail sent to it. (I'm using the Web archive to keep track of what's happening.) So, for me to be able to reply to a particular message, it would also have to be sent directly to me. Sorry for the inconvenience. The problem is already being worked on. -- Michael