On Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:59:05 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> On 14/03/2013 04:07 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:59:14 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>
>>> Unix commands and their switches follow no reason or rhyme
>>
>> Sometimes it certainly appears that way.  In this instance, I think
>> it's a case of "-r" and "-R" were already used as a secondary option
>> for the query parameter, and 'e' is the next letter in "remove".  -U
>> was already used for "upgrade".
> 
> Like I said, half the text-processing commands let you specify how many
> bytes to process using -b, and half call it -c. No reason, they just do.

"b" = Bytes
"c" - Characters

Developer's choice/prerogative. :)

> But then again, we're not talking about a coherently designed system,
> we're talking about a random collection of tools and utilities
> independently developed by unrelated individuals over the course of 70+
> years. Add in a few layers of backwards compatibility and YUCK! >_<

Try about 50 years.  UNIX came about in 1969.  Some of the development 
work obviously would've been before it was released.

Jim

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