Re: cp -n diff

[Marc Balmer <mbalmer%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

Am 03.05.11 22:50, schrieb Zafer Aydoğan:
> 2011/5/3 Thor Lancelot Simon <tls%panix.com@localhost>:
>> On Tue, May 03, 2011 at 08:30:35PM +0200, Zafer Aydo?an wrote:
>>> Hello list,
>>>
>>> attached is a patch that implements the -n option for cp, which skips 
>>> existing
>>> files on the target.
>>
>> Please do not check this in.
>>
>> As if the "functionality" weren't of questionable enough utility all
>> on its own, as you point out two other implementations of ls use two
>> different option letters to do this, so it cannot be the case that one
>> would want this so-called "feature" for script compatibility.
>>
>> It's Unix.  Use the tools.  In other words, please do not try to jam
>> every single useful 3 line shell script you can think of (nor every
>> single handy invocation of any other command) duplicatively into
>> every single other program in the source tree.
>>
>> Thor
>>
> 
> 
> It is not encouraged to use use -n in scripts, neither is -i.
> Both are not POSIX compliant but both are useful.
> This feature is part of the FreeBSD repository since almost a decade
> and it is common behaviour in modern Unix operating systems.
> To have consistency across the BSD's it is also named -n.
> I'm not suggesting to import everything from FreeBSD,
> but why being narrow-minded ? If its useful, we should have it.

It is not narrow-minded to be against -n in cp.  In fact, it shows great
wisdom do be against it.  Please don't import that.