bug#33787: Policy Change: Use of /etc/gnu.conf files to configure default system behavior

[Paul Eggert]

L A Walsh wrote:

> They didn't have one command for listing files, and then require another one
> to list properties (stat), and then another to line things up and then another 
> to
> put things out in a different format.

Uh, no.  For example, you can see examples of using two or more commands in 
Kernighan and Mashey's 1981 paper "The Unix Programming Environment", which 
contains this example:

   ls | pr -4 | lpr

which lists files with one command, and then uses another to line them up, 
exactly the sort of thing you're saying these people didn't have. The paper goes 
on to give statistics of how often people in the early Unix years used the 
technique recommended if you don't like the default behavior: have a small shell 
script that establishes the behavior you want. Kernighan and Mashey write, "it 
has become common for each user to have a collection of personal commands, a 
result of the fact that the shell permits users to alter the default search path 
for finding commands. These personal commands are almost invariably shell 
programs.... people make significant use of shell procedures to customize the 
general environment to their personal needs".

So it's not like we're suggesting anything new here.

Kernighan BW, Mashey JR. The Unix programming environment. Computer. 1981 
Apr;14(4):12-24. https://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/co/1981/04/01667315.pdf