On Thu, Feb 20, 2025 at 11:59:09AM -0500, Douglas McIlroy wrote:
> Subject: Re: idea for groff
>
> The idea that the argument of .so might contain unquoted spaces
> is anathema--contrary to groff convention and fortunately not
> supported. I think the idea of selecting lines from a file is
> good, but it doesn't warrant new groff syntax. I would prefer
>
> .so file firstline lastline
This makes the most sense to me, as well. Obviously, consistency
is important.
For what it's worth, I've always abhorred filenames with word
spaces -- they usually require extra consideration in shell
scripts and other programs. I've always thought of filenames as
identifiers, not metadata. The nature of a file should normally
be determined by its full pathname, i.e., it's place within a
logical hierarchy. If you need to describe the content of a file
that's not obvious from its pathname, than put the description in
a metadata file, like README or filecontents, or something.
-- Steve
--
Steve Izma
-
Home: 35 Locust St., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 1W6
Temporary residence: 36 Locust St., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 1W7
E-mail: si...@golden.net cellphone: 519-998-2684
==
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best – and
therefore never scrutinize or question.
-- Stephen Jay Gould, *Full House: The Spread of Excellence
from Plato to Darwin*, 1996
