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From: roger@celtics.UUCP (Roger B.A. Klorese)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: more rm insanity
Message-ID: <1890@celtics.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 1-Dec-87 19:58:19 EST
Article-I.D.: celtics.1890
Posted: Tue Dec  1 19:58:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Dec-87 02:45:23 EST
References: <1257@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <6840002@hpcllmv.HP.COM> <9555@mimsy.UUCP>
Reply-To: roger@celtics.UUCP (Roger B.A. Klorese)
Organization: CELERITY (Northeast Area), Framingham, MA
Lines: 26

In article <9555@mimsy.UUCP> chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) writes:
>Why is it that people have so much trouble figuring out how to remove 
>files whose names start with `-'?

Because, unless one knows and fully understands that globbing is done by
the shell and not the program, one would expect, as with other operating
systems, that the process is:

- pick up the command and its options from the entered command
- pick up the filenames to which the command is to be applied from the
  supplied filenames, expanding wildcards if necessary

In fact, the actual process, which is (basically)

- expand all wildcards
- execute the full command line as it appears, with the command
  plucking its options from the expanded command line

...is counterintuitive... after all, an option is an option, and a
filename a filename... (or so it goes)

-- 
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