Re: [tlug] The Mother of All (bash) Commands

["Daniel A. Ramaley" <daniel.ramaley@example.com>]

On Tuesday 18 March 2008 09:55, Attila Kinali wrote:
>Ever tried cp -v ? :-)

Sometimes, but it isn't portable:

$ cp -v file1 file2
cp: illegal option -- v
Usage: cp [-f] [-i] [-p] [-@example.com f1 f2
       cp [-f] [-i] [-p] [-@example.com f1 ... fn d1
       cp -r|-R [-H|-L|-P] [-f] [-i] [-p] [-@example.com d1 ... dn-1 dn
$ uname -a
SunOS sun4 5.10 Generic_118844-26 i86pc i386 i86pc

It's easier for me to remember the tar trick than to remember which 
systems i'm logged into have a cp that supports -v. On a nearly-daily 
basis i'm logged into machines running Linux, OpenBSD, Solaris, and 
sometimes even OS X. Basic commands (like cp) seem to be rather limited 
on the non-Linux systems.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
+1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA