🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <zierke.724493009@rzdspc24> zierke@rzdspc24.informatik.uni-hamburg.de (Reinhard Zierke) writes:
> This explains what dos2unix does, but not WHY it has such strange behaviour.
> Using software improperly MUST NOT lead to such damaging results. Beware
> of such bad software engineering!

Agreed. NO program on UNIX should EVER use the

	command inputfile [outputfile]

syntax. It's dangerous, counterintuitive (you can't use it as a filter), and
inflexible. Indent does the same thing, which is why I have indent in a script
that does "indent -st" here.

If the command *requires* an outputfile (mv, cp, ln) it needs to do sanity
checks, and accept multiple input files. The output file should NEVER be
optional in this case:

	command inputfile outputfile
	command inputfile... outputdir

If you NEED an optional output file, and for some reason redirects don't
work, then flag it:

	command file... [-o outputfile]

I don't know what dos2unix and unix2dos do, but they should be using one
of these alternatives.
-- 
Peter da Silva                                            `-_-'
Ferranti International Controls Corporation                'U` 
Sugar Land, TX  77487-5012 USA
+1 713 274 5180                            "Zure otsoa besarkatu al duzu gaur?"