On Tue 13 Feb 2024 at 11:21:08 (-0500), Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 09:35:11AM -0600, David Wright wrote: > > On Tue 13 Feb 2024 at 07:15:48 (-0500), Greg Wooledge wrote: > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:01:47PM -0600, David Wright wrote: > > > > … but not much. For me, "standard output" is /dev/fd/1, yet it seems > > > > unlikely that anyone is going to use >&1 in the manner of the example. > > > > > > Standard output means "whatever file descriptor 1 points to". That > > > could be a file, a pipe, a terminal (character device), etc. > > > > Why pick on 1? > > It's the definition. Standard input is FD 0, standard output is FD 1, > and standard error is FD 2. > > > . It demonstrates the shell syntax element required (&) in order to > > avoid truncating the file, rather than shred overwriting it. > > You are confused. You're making assumptions about shell syntax that > are simply not true.
You're right. I was looking too hard at the right side of the > and neglecting the implied left side. It's always worth running these things past your eyes. Thanks for the clear exposition that followed. Cheers, David.