Fwd: ln(1): add -v flag

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Angelo Rossi <angelo.rossi.homelab@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2023, 23:37
Subject: Re: ln(1): add -v flag
To: Theo de Raadt <deraadt@openbsd.org>


notice that:

in /bin

command -v
=========================
[ no
chgrp no
chmod no
cp yes (verbose)
csh yes (verbose)
dd no
domainname no
ed no
expr no
kill no
ln no
md5 no
mt no
pax yes (verbose see cp)
pwd no
rm yes (verbose see cp)
sh yes (verbose input to standard error)
sha256 no
sleep no
sync no
test no
cat yes (verbose display control characters)
chio no
cksum no
cpio yes (verbose see cp)
date no
df no
echo no
eject no
hostname no
ksh yes (verbose see csh)
ls no
mkdir no
mv yes (verbose see cp)
ps yes (verbose)
rksh yes (verbose see csh)
rmdir no
sha1 no
sha512 no
stty no
tar yes (verbose see cp)

and in /sbin commands are much like /bin. This is the way the interface of
Unix OS is designed in the sense that each commands listed above follow a
precise specification and design pattern. ln is not cp or mv alike, it
works on single file/directory not on groups of files. cp and mv conversely
can operate using *.

Angelo

On Sun, Dec 31, 2023 at 10:35 PM Theo de Raadt <deraadt@openbsd.org> wrote:

> Brandon Little <drinco@tutanota.de> wrote:
>
> > Theo de Raadt <deraadt@openbsd.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Pointless.
> >
> > It's nice for shell scripts, to print what's happening. Sure, you could
> > echo(1)/printf(1), but it's a bit silly when commands like cp(1) can
> > just do it themselves.
>
> No, it is NOT NICE for shell scripts.
>
> If you use an operating system that has ln -v support, and put ln -v use
> into your script, then move the script to a system which does not support
> ln -v, then it will break.
>
> That's not nice.
>
> POSIX does not require a -v flag.
>
> It's a suggestion for further fragmentation of the environment.
>
>