Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!nic.MR.NET!umn-cs!uf!brant From: brant@uf.msc.umn.edu (Gary Brant) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: arp CD command change??? Message-ID: <11187@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU> Date: 15 Feb 89 02:47:54 GMT References: <1769@cveg.uucp> <789@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu> Sender: news@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU Reply-To: brant@uf.msc.umn.edu (Gary Brant) Organization: Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc. Lines: 30 [eat this] In article bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes: >jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) writes: >> PLEASE!!! I rate the use of : for root directory, / for parent >> directory and "" for current directory as a leading contender for >> the worst Amiga feature (right up there with the bizarre wildcards). > >I think you're mistaking "sane" with "familiar"... > >-Miles As a sysnonym for the current directory, "" is an abomination. It must be escaped multiple times to get it past shells, source-level debuggers, etc. Using . would be at the same time familiar and sane. Arguments over whether the parent should be .. or / and whether the root should be : or / are of little interes; either is usable. However we *NEED* a sane synonym for the current directory. This is non-negotiable; "" MUST go. -Gary Brant ARPA: brant@uf.msc.umn.edu #include