Op 23-03-09 18:04, Jari Aalto schreef:
[GNU long options]
I'd like to propose another approach. It would be possible to use:
#ifdef HAS_GNU_GETOPT
at compile time to offer --long options for those platforms that have
the GNU libraries installed.
Would you accept a patch for this?
I will add --help, --version and --verbose. Without using getopt.
My conclusions are:
* There exists no standard that prescribes -v for verbose or -V for version
* There is no tradition to use -v for verbose.
* GNU only standardised some long options.
* Many GNU programs use -v for verbose and -V for version.
* Many programs (also with GNU license) use -v for version.
For me this is a non-issue. I will switch options -v and -V.
Using long options for Wcd would be joke, because wcd is all about reducing
typing.
My motivation was that, Open Source software could become better whe
quality is improved. One part of the quality is that programs behave
consistently using similar command line options; when they can be
genrally agreed on. The standards are what we make of them.
Thank you for the change, small it may be, it's an important step.
Jari
To standardise you need a standard. There is no standard that prescribes
single letter command line options, so it will be a though job to
convince everybody. I think there is a good reason that this has not
been standardised. Programs are very different and are used in a
different context. They can have good reasons to do it different. A
single letter can be an abbreviation of anything, even if you restrict
it to English language only.
With my local wcd build I have typed now already several times wcd -v,
while I should type wcd -V. Thousands of wcd users will also make this
mistake when the next version is released. I don't like bothering
users... But this doesn't break core functionality, so it is not so bad.
best regards,
Erwin Waterlander
