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| From | jt@toerring.de (Jens Thoms Toerring) |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: strange problem |
| Date | 2015-03-24 01:12 +0000 |
| Organization | Freie Universitaet Berlin |
| Message-ID | <cnbrvvFr1cbU2@mid.uni-berlin.de> (permalink) |
| References | (2 earlier) <meojc0$rrs$3@dont-email.me> <mep2t3$7n6$1@reader1.panix.com> <mep3b7$h3n$1@dont-email.me> <90b1hapvisvjb0a4h7o4suht7vue5ukj92@4ax.com> <meqb1s$ppn$1@dont-email.me> |
Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> wrote:
> On 24/03/15 00:18, Robert Wessel wrote:
> > On Mon, 23 Mar 2015 13:10:49 +0000, Richard Heathfield
> > <rjh@cpax.org.uk> wrote:
> >>Allowing spaces in filenames/pathnames was a monumentally bad design
> >>decision. [...]
> >
> > Not allowing spaces in things that humans will name is a monumentally
> > bad user interface design decision.
> Yes, it was. But, once that monumentally bad decision had been made,
> everybody was used to it, everybody knew the rules, nobody even /tried/
> to put spaces in filenames... and then, suddenly, the second
> monumentally bad decision was made - i.e. to reverse the original
> monumentally bad decision.
> Sometimes, once you've screwed it up, it's best to leave it screwed up,
> because that's one of your only two choices, the other of which is to
> screw it up even more.
> If we'd had spaces in filenames right from the outset, they would never
> have been a problem.
What is the big problem with spaces in file names? Unix had,
for as long as I remember, only two characters excluded from
file names, '\0' (for obvious reasons to a C programmer) and
'/' as the path separator, allowing to have directories. Some
utilities (like shells) use spaces to separate e.g. command
line arguments, so spaces in a file name need escaping (or
enclosing file names in quotes) when used in that context
(which sometimes can be a bit of a PITA when writing shell
scripts, admittedly) - and for that reason they're probably
often avoided. But I can't see anything "monumentally bad"
about all that. And I don't have any idea what you mean by
a "second monumentally bad" decision. Or is that about some
software company from the northern-western coast of one of
your former colonies, shooting itself into its own feet over
and over again while trying to catch up with things others
already had for ages?
Best regards, Jens
--
\ Jens Thoms Toerring ___ jt@toerring.de
\__________________________ http://toerring.de
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strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 02:10 +0000
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 03:03 +0000
Re: strange problem Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-03-22 22:09 -0700
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 09:04 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 08:30 +0000
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 09:06 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 21:21 +0000
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 21:42 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 22:35 +0000
Re: strange problem Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2015-03-24 12:20 -0700
Re: strange problem Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-03-23 15:23 -0700
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 23:14 +0000
Re: strange problem Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-03-23 17:10 -0700
Re: strange problem glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-03-23 03:03 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 08:37 +0000
Re: strange problem raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-03-23 09:37 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 21:27 +0000
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 21:43 +0000
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 22:36 +0000
Re: strange problem Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-03-23 17:09 -0700
Re: strange problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2015-03-23 13:02 +0000
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-23 13:10 +0000
Re: strange problem Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-03-23 19:18 -0500
Re: strange problem Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-03-24 00:28 +0000
Re: strange problem Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-03-23 19:38 -0500
Re: strange problem jt@toerring.de (Jens Thoms Toerring) - 2015-03-24 01:12 +0000
Re: strange problem Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-03-23 08:10 -0700
Re: strange problem Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2015-03-23 11:28 -0400
Re: strange problem bilsch <king621@comcast.net> - 2015-03-23 21:47 +0000
Re: strange problem Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2015-03-23 21:53 +0000
Re: strange problem Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2015-03-23 18:34 -0400
Re: strange problem James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-03-23 18:58 -0400
Re: strange problem raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-03-23 09:54 +0000
Re: strange problem Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2015-03-23 21:47 +0000
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