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bug#15158: sort complains about incompatible options (that aren't) AND w
From: |
Linda Walsh |
Subject: |
bug#15158: sort complains about incompatible options (that aren't) AND when it shouldn't |
Date: |
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:57:05 -0700 |
User-agent: |
Thunderbird |
If I tell sort to do a general numeric sort and interpret
human suffixes, such as
sort -gh ...
sort fails similarly, if I ask it to sort by numeric size and
respect human suffixes:
sort -nh ....
sort claims:
sort: options `-dn' are incompatible
similarly, numeric and general numeric are claimed to be
incompatible -- how is that?
Regardless of compatibility or not, sort doesn't
use even use _1_ of the options that were specified.
If it always used the latest option specified as other
utils, it would still behave in a deterministic manner,
and give correct output in the majority of cases (if not,
then state the "question")...
I don't know which utils have been dumbed down to fail
on, any, ambiguous input (if it is ambiguous, which I
argue, it is not -- as there is a prescribed order for
evaluation), but the emphasis on computer programs
not being resilient.
Rigidly making people wrong and refusing to work unless
they ask you in the exact right language/syntax
is a step backwards for computer programs. The idea
on computers is to make life easier -- and enforcing
the user to create odd workarounds when the program
could have gotten it right, feels like user-abuse.
- bug#15158: sort complains about incompatible options (that aren't) AND when it shouldn't,
Linda Walsh <=