Hello,
On 2018-12-20 5:36 p.m., L A Walsh wrote:
The below methods cannot alter or fix the problems that require
a configuration file.
Example: have 'rm -fr .' do a depth first removal and not pre-inspect
any argument before its children.
Whether or not to expand tabs in output so that output to
a terminal that doesn't have tabstops every 8 characters will line up.
I could go on, but those cannot be handled with a simple alias.
Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing (and avoid "x/y
problem"):
Are you asking about adding *new* features (e.g, "rm --depth-first"
or "cat --expand-tabs"), and then about controlling them throught
a global configuration file?
That is, asking for two different things (new features, and new control
options) ?
For example,
If there was an "rm --depth-first" feature,
you could enable it easily with "alias" - right?
If this is the case, I think it is best to explicitly separate it into
some very different requests:
1. The ability to control existing command-line features
through a global configuration file.
2. Adding "rm --depth-first" option
3. Adding "--expand-tabs" option to multiple programs.
As for #1 - this idea is the topic of the current thread,
and was previously decided to not be accepted.
As for #2 - not sure if this was discussed before,
but I have a hunch that once more sophisticated control
over file-traversal is needed, find(1) is likely better
solution (e.g. "find -depth").
As for #3 - The "expand" program already does tab-expansion.
It can be easily combined with existing programs using
a simple shell function.
e.g.:
sorttab(){ sort "$@" | expand -t20 ; }
---
If you are requesting such features (or others)
It's best to start a new thread for each topic.
regards,
- assaf
