Hello Brett,

On Thu, 2014-07-17 at 19:58 +1000, Brett Pemberton wrote:
> I'd have the same response to someone using _ instead of a space.
> Why bother?

Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it, and it is usually
painful. There is a classic example, in the way that MS DOS was a bought
out QDOS which was a CP/M semi-clone. They did not learn from the past,
and made a ripe mess, which still continues with that malware infested
ecosystem.

> It has been many MANY years since I've found something that doesn't
> work properly
> with files with spaces, or any other non [a-zA-Z0-9] characters. People seem 
> to
> hold grudges against this behavior from decades ago.

There was a reason for not using the space, and methods of coping. It
was considered bad form from very early, it goes back to roots of Unix.
Know and understand!

> I don't like replacing characters because it can only ever be a one
> way transformation.
> That _ in a filename, is it a space? An actual underscore? Some other
> character you
> converted? Any attempt to use the filename to store useful information
> is thwarted.

It has significant use in filenames, replacing a space is an excellent
example, delimiting the words that make it up, without delimiting the
filename. There are other characters that can also be used that way, but
also have other uses.

> Just give files their proper names, guys. Give it a shot. For some
> reason you need a
> colon or a semicolon or a ! in your filename (and there are many valid
> reasons), just do
> it! Tab completion still works, filesystem operations still work, the
> world will not collapse.

Just because it does not fall in a heap does not make it a good idea.
That is like the marketing monkey attitude of clicking every link on a
web page, and then taking no responsibility for the malarkey that
happens.

> Saying that using certain characters (exceptions according to POSIX are NUL 
> and
> forward slash) in filenames will "cause trouble" smells like FUD to me.
> 
> If something doesn't work with a legitimate filename, submit a bug!

That says stuff the conventions, which had excellent reasons at their
foundations, for cosmetic and transient benefits.

>      / Brett

Regards,

Mark Trickett

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