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Cc: FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>
Subject: Re: ifconfig output: ipv4 netmask format
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[snip]

>> So, maybe, while following the POLA, we should add an option, as Daniel
>> mentioned above? To output the CIDR?
>
> Eh... I don't know if doing this would be wise because it might break
> some 3rd party mechanisms for parsing the output (as broken as you
> might think it is), in particular (for example) because people can
> alias the ifconfig command to something else.

If we'll introduce such ifconfig option (i.e. ifconfig -c) nothing is 
going to break: ifconfig's default behavior won't change, and people, 
who will alias `ifconfig' to `ifconfig -c' are their own enemies. User 
should think about consequences of such actions.

-- 
wbr,
Boo