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Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

joeyh.name

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Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#31
There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now:

* tree - print directory structure

* bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging.

* rg - better grep

* direnv - local environment variables

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#32
post #31

There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now: * tree - print directory structure * bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging. * rg - better grep * direnv - local environment variables

> rg

Never going to happen because it's written in rust. ag (https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher) on the other hand is written in C.

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#33
post #32
post #31

There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now: * tree - print directory structure * bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging. * rg - better grep * direnv - local environment variables

> rg Never going to happen because it's written in rust. ag ( https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher ) on the other hand is written in C.

What's never going to happen?

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#34
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a truncated file: $ cat test moo $ cat test $ cat test $

I was wondering about tee for that: $ cat test moo $ cat /dev/null $ cat test moo ...seems to work. Am I just getting lucky with a race condition?

I think using

    tac | tac
is a safe bet since must be reading all file before by definition.

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#35
post #33
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rg Never going to happen because it's written in rust. ag ( https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher ) on the other hand is written in C.

What's never going to happen?

A Rust program being standard on all UNIX systems.

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#37
post #32
post #31

There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now: * tree - print directory structure * bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging. * rg - better grep * direnv - local environment variables

> rg Never going to happen because it's written in rust. ag ( https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher ) on the other hand is written in C.

Never say never :)

If Rust being added to the Linux kernel[1] isn't far-fetched, I don't think adding a utility in Rust is crazy either.

[1] - https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAKwvOdmuYc8rW_H4aQG4DsJzho=F+d...

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Rust program being standard on all UNIX systems.

I'll bite: Why?

Rust is designed for a fairly small number of relatively modern systems; there are many close-to-POSIX systems that can’t (and I would guess likely will never) be able to run Rust code in any formal capacity. To the hopeful: even C++ has been unable to win here, despite having many more years of a head start and much more accommodation for stranger platforms. It’s just not going to happen.

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#39
post #32
post #31

There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now: * tree - print directory structure * bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging. * rg - better grep * direnv - local environment variables

> rg Never going to happen because it's written in rust. ag ( https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher ) on the other hand is written in C.

bat is Rust too.

Re: Moreutils – Unix tools that nobody thought to write (2012)

#40
post #31

There's a few programs I wish were standard on all Unix systems by now: * tree - print directory structure * bat - cat, but actually designed for reading files. Syntax highlighting, line numbers, automatic paging. * rg - better grep * direnv - local environment variables

Good list of things you can install to better your CLI experience, but I am not sure if I agree that they fill out missing features.

Why is bat better than less?

I admit to catting files for reading as much as the next guy, but I almost always have the tiniest regret that I didn’t feed it into less and kept my terminal cleaner.

As for RG and AG. other than being faster, how are they better? I thought they were api complainant drop-in replacements so it’s not like they fill in a missing role.

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