I have a file that does yet exist, but when it does finally exist I want to skip the first line and follow the remainder of the file. tail -F -n +2 should do this, however it does not skip the first line -- it starts printing at the first line.
In one shell, fire up tail on a file that does not yet exist and tell it to start printing at the second line: $ tail -F -n +2 /tmp/does_not_exist tail: cannot open '/tmp/does_not_exist' for reading: No such file or directory In another shell, write several lines to the non-existent file: $ echo -e "line1\nline2\nline3" > /tmp/does_not_exist Now see that tail printed out all three lines rather than skipping the first: tail: '/tmp/does_not_exist' has appeared; following new file line1 line2 line3 tail/coreutils 8.28 I don't see anything in the help that hints at what might be happening here. Smells like a bug. Can anyone else confirm? Thanks! -- NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY: At Rapid7, the privacy of our customers, partners, and employees is paramount. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your inbox right away. Learn how Rapid7 handles privacy at rapid7.com/privacy-policy <https://www.rapid7.com/privacy-policy/>. To opt-out of Rapid7 marketing emails, please click here <https://information.rapid7.com/manage-subscription.html> or email [email protected] <mailto:mailto:[email protected]>.
