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Path: utzoo!watmath!watdcsu!geo
From: geo@watdcsu.UUCP (Geo Swan)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: cat -v considered harmful
Message-ID: <298@watdcsu.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 6-Jul-84 18:49:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: watdcsu.298
Posted: Fri Jul  6 18:49:55 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Jul-84 01:55:04 EDT
References: <1197@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 19

In a recent article one Ron Natalie, an Arpanaut, comments
on why cat should not have an option to list the names of the
files it is printing.

>	From:      Ron Natalie <ron@BRL-TGR.ARPA>
>	
>	Because "cat" is for transferring files to it's standard output
>	(see Rob Pike's "Cat -u considered harmful).  Try "pr -t".  Pr is
>	for pretty printing.


I agree completely.  I heard Pike deliver this talk at USENIX in
Toronto last summer.  Unfortunately, the proceeding do not contain
a copy of the talk.  Instead there is a short paragraph directing
people to read Rob's soon to be published book.  (ie "The UNIX
Programming Environment", Kernighan and Pike)  
Does anyone know if this talk has been published elsewhere?
UPE is a very good book, but it is not nearly as pointed in
its criticisms as the USENIX talk.