From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Jan 27 22:13:00 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id WAA29441 for hackers-outgoing; Tue, 27 Jan 1998 22:13:00 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from austin.polstra.com (austin.polstra.com [206.213.73.10]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA29423 for ; Tue, 27 Jan 1998 22:12:47 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from jdp@austin.polstra.com) Received: from austin.polstra.com (jdp@localhost) by austin.polstra.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA05179; Tue, 27 Jan 1998 21:52:25 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from jdp) Message-Id: <199801280552.VAA05179@austin.polstra.com> To: Mike Smith cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: ipfw patch In-reply-to: Your message of "Wed, 28 Jan 1998 16:10:20 +1030." <199801280540.QAA01308@word.smith.net.au> Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 21:52:25 -0800 From: John Polstra Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > > I agree with Archie. It's best to avoid adding programs that > > change their behavior based on the name used to invoke them. > > Why do you say that? I've often felt exactly the opposite, so I'm > curious to see it from your point of view... I guess I just don't like a program to know its own name, in general. A user might not like its name, and decide to rename it. That shouldn't change the way it behaves. Or you might install a new beta version under a special name, to avoid conflict with your older stable version. What a surprise to find out that the program doesn't do what it seems like it ought to do. Depending on the name of the program is just a little too tricky for my taste, and it seems too likely to cause surprises. That's why I prefer explicit options for influencing a program's behavior. John -- John Polstra jdp@polstra.com John D. Polstra & Co., Inc. Seattle, Washington USA "Self-knowledge is always bad news." -- John Barth