[Russ Allbery] > ip address also has one of the worst output UI decisions I've ever seen, > namely this line: > > inet 192.168.0.195/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global dynamic wlan0 > > specifically "192.168.0.195/24", which is notation (IIRC) invented by this > command, used nowhere else in networking, and confusing to anyone who has > prior networking experience.
Huh ... I have exactly the opposite reaction. To me, this notation is _far_ more readable than dotted quads, e.g., I know exactly what a /27 is, but it takes awhile to work out 255.255.255.224. I don't think this notation originated in iproute2, I've seen it in lots of other contexts. (Yes, it's a bit annoying to parse this, as you have to split on / after splitting on whitespace, but to me that's a small price to pay.) In fact in my interfaces(5) files I always use 'address a.b.c.d/nn' and no 'subnet' line. So tidy. (ifupdown added this feature in wheezy.)