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There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

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Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. I don't get it why `ip` has -brief which is not a default behavior and why -verbose flag does not exist. Also there could be a -no-color instead of -color flag.

Or simply detect when piped and leave the color out, as just about every sane cli tool does it.

Spot on. A good pattern is to autodetect what to do by default and yet allow forcing on/off (e.g. --color and --no-color)

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#192
post #58

TIL: iproute2 has a color, a brief/human mode, and a one-line mode. I think I am going to be aliasing ip -color to ip from now on. $ ip -br -c a # ip -brief -color address lo UNKNOWN 127.0.0.1/8 ::1/128 eth0 DOWN wlan0 UP 192.0.2.1/24 2001:db8::1/64 fe80::1/64 $ ip -br -c l # ip -brief -color link lo UNKNOWN 00:00:00:00:00:00 eth0 DOWN 00:12:34:56:78:9a wlan0 UP 12:34:56:78:9a:bc

$ ip -br -c a # ip -brief -color address

Option "-br" is unknown, try "ip -help".

Friggin' RHEL I guess I'll have to check back in a couple of years.

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#193
post #59

I've lost much muscle memory and skill with newer systems. When I was younger I had time for deep dives into configs/manuals/googles/mailthreads. These days my job assumes I know all the stuff and ins and outs, not having a good time re-learning everything I already know how to do... It's not new anymore and gives no joy for learning new things, no time to do it either. It sucks.

Yeah I don’t buy into the idea that because there were some under-the-hood changes that had to be made, that means the whole application has to be thrown away and a new interface re-written. I don’t believe for a second that these developers couldn’t have dropped in a new backend and mapped the same commands to it. Putting a shinier coat of paint on the command line isn’t going to attract a wider audience, it’s just…

IMO, it's because understanding someone else's code and introducing your own changes is something that requires a considerable amount of experience and knowledge which many new developers have not acquired yet. Instead of trying to take the time to understand how to integrate the changes they're trying to make with an existing project, they create something new practically centered around this new feature and a lot of stuff gets lost along the way.

At the end of the day, it's fine though. It'll either satisfy the needs of people and become a new standard or it will be satisfy edge cases and become the new thing that needs to be deprecated because no-one contributes to the project and the original maintainer has lost interest.

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#194
post #189

ifc TAB ENTER is just so much faster then ip addr.

I'm still used to typing ifconfig just out of muscle memory, but ip seems to very loosely match

"ip a" will be matched the same as "ip addr" or "ip address"

Learning that made me much more accepting of the new command

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#196
post #18

I'm trying hard to fight my old muscle memory to use ip instead of ifconfig on Linux. I have a few issues though: * "ip" is useless as a keyword if you're looking for help online. It's extremely frustrating and probably my main issue actually learning how to use the damn thing. * ifconfig's output is simply more readable IMO: https://svkt.org/~simias/up/20180525-113825_ip-vs-ifconfig.p... . It's pretty weird that a b…

Bookmark this PDF: http://homepage.smc.edu/morgan_david/cs70/ip-cref.pdf

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#197
post #144
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Even the `ip` name is misleading as the command does much more than only ip-related things (link layer, network namespaces, tcp, …).

Always wondered about this - is IP 'internet protocol' or something else, since it's much lower level than IP? I've been using IP route 15 for 15, maybe 20 years now and hinestly have no idea.

Yes, it is 'internet protocol' [0] and part of TCP/IP.[1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#198
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize Solaris implemented a service management system (which is also superior to systemd; and was also created prior to systemd's conception), right ? They switched away from legacy SysV init scripts BEFORE systemd existed.

SMF was quite nice. Solaris was incredible in a lot of ways. I always wonder why it never took off.

> I always wonder why it never took off.

Because Larry Ellison bought Sun.

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#199
post #18

I'm trying hard to fight my old muscle memory to use ip instead of ifconfig on Linux. I have a few issues though: * "ip" is useless as a keyword if you're looking for help online. It's extremely frustrating and probably my main issue actually learning how to use the damn thing. * ifconfig's output is simply more readable IMO: https://svkt.org/~simias/up/20180525-113825_ip-vs-ifconfig.p... . It's pretty weird that a b…

It could also be preserved as a legacy flag.

  ifconfig -L
(I don't know if this is already taken. I haven't read the man pages in forever.)

Re: There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc

#200

When I started learning Linux when it was, I think, 0.99, I appreciated that so many commands where cross-Unix. It was a Unix lookalike. I could watch how something is done on one Unix, type this stuff into my Linux terminal, and get an equivalent result in Linux, and this helped a lot and created a sense of community. Now I see that Linux tears the standards apart, there are more and more obstacles with porting comp…

Yup, you could say that again. I cut my teeth in Linux while in high school for the most path. First year of college, I go to the engineering labs to get a job, it's all SunOS/Solaris. It's like driving a car! There were very few commands that were different! Now, Linux is slowly going rouge and changing everything in the supposedly name of "progress" I'm still salty as hell with the systemd rubbish. The problem is t…

A lot of these changes are reminding me, a 40+ year old recovering sysadmin, that I am being left behind by the technology world.

I would imagine that there are a few others in the thread that read this article and felt similar.

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