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Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 02:16:41 +1000 (EST)
From: Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au>
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To: Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
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cc: standards@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Patch for cp(1)
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On Fri, 1 Apr 2005, Garrett Wollman wrote:

> <<On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 20:43:02 +1000 (EST), Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au> said:
>
> [cp -r]
>> I think we don't need to keep it except for POSIX compatibility.
>
>> New programs just shouldn't use cp -r.  Old programs that use cp -r
>> shouldn't have its behaviour changed.
>
> I'm more concerned about humans.

Removing the option is best for humans.

-r is the same as -R under Linux (linux_base_8), and it isn't even deprecated
in cp --help at least, so it won't go away, and fingers will be trained to
use it in preference to -R, for at least another 20 years.

This reminds me that I rarely actually use cp -R, since it is too broken
to use -- it snaps hard links, unlike Linux cp.

Bruce