Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!sri-spam!mordor!jdb From: jdb@mordor.s1.gov (John Bruner) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: .. not considered as a botch Message-ID: <14336@mordor.s1.gov> Date: Mon, 6-Jul-87 14:30:34 EDT Article-I.D.: mordor.14336 Posted: Mon Jul 6 14:30:34 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 7-Jul-87 06:21:14 EDT References: <8075@brl-adm.ARPA> <6037@brl-smoke.ARPA> <13640@mordor.s1.gov> <6054@brl-smoke.ARPA> Reply-To: jdb@mordor.UUCP (John Bruner) Organization: S-1 Project, LLNL Lines: 12 I periodically must explain to users why the pathname "~/.login" (for example) isn't understood by most of the programs that they use. I do not want to explain why "../foo" means one thing to the shell (or, worse yet, one of the shells) and another thing to their favorite editor or other utility. If the semantics of ".." are to be changed, the proper place for the change is the kernel, not in some (but, inevitably, not all) user-level programs. -- John Bruner (S-1 Project, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) jdb@mordor.s1.gov ...!seismo!mordor!jdb (415) 423-4848