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From: emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: I have a file named "-"
Message-ID: <EMV.91Feb27011036@poe.aa.ox.com>
Date: 27 Feb 91 07:10:36 GMT
References: <22834@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1991Feb26.170212.22920@convex.com>
	<6661@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <6668@idunno.Princeton.EDU>
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In-Reply-To: subbarao@phoenix.Princeton.EDU's message of 27 Feb 91 05:12:34 GMT

In article <6668@idunno.Princeton.EDU> subbarao@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kartik Subbarao) writes:

   e	|  real wizards don't put in extra lines for inews.  they
   x    |  know that 1) it's evil to put in too much quoted text and
   t    |  2) inews is just a program which can be circumvented and
   r    |  3) it's ugly and pointless to waste lines.
   a    |  4) sets a bad example too.

   l    |  how do I remove a file "-" points out a flaw in the
   i    |  unix getopt scheme.  that "-" is often overloaded to
   n    |  mean "standard output" or "standard input" is another
   e    |  source of confusion.  exercise: describe other punctuation
   s    |  marks which the unix shells and c libraries abuse. 

   f    |  it's clear that there's a use for a newsgroup approximating
   o    |  the role of "ask mr. wizard".  what that group would be 
   r    |  named, got me.

   i    |  radical idea: a group which would be culled from the 
   n    |  best postings in the rest of comp.unix.*.
   e    |  ruthlessly moderated, indexed, and edited as necessary.  
   w    |  funded by either some government grant (not likely),
   s    |  subscriber fees, or something.

on the whole there's a lot of good stuff in comp.unix.*, but there's
also a lot of just plain old stuff.  

-- 
 Msen	Edward Vielmetti
/|---	moderator, comp.archives
	emv@msen.com