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Re: mv command usability: rename file and create dest dir


From: Sergey Ponomarev
Subject: Re: mv command usability: rename file and create dest dir
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2023 23:14:53 +0200

Sorry for bringing up the old topic. I made a proposition to extend mv and
cp programs with options from install command:
(something like) -p to create parent folder
-m to set mode as in mkdir
--rename to rename a file
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/coreutils/2023-07/msg00000.html
Thread with responses:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/coreutils/2023-08/threads.html#00022

As a result a patch was applied to a cp man page with mention of install
command.
It also would be great to extend the install man page with details about
its different behaviour.
If the executable is running the cp command will fail with an error EBUSY
"Text file busy" but the install command will be able to update the file.
The confusion of users resulted in a StackOverflow question:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/95932/162125

But still there wasn't a clear reasoning why not to add new features to the
cp/mv commands.
One reason was that we need to follow unix philosophy and not to mix
multiple things.
But from a user perspective this is a one operation and technically they
are already mixed in install and mkdir - you can create a folder and set
its mode in one command.

Could you please confirm or reject the feature request and if yes, then I
can send a patch with implementation.

Regards,
Sergey


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