Bug#461798: [Bug-ed] Bug#461798: warn earlier about readonly files
jidanni wrote: > vi warns, emacs warns. Good for them. > it usually is a big shock to me After you too have used ed for 20 years, it will no longer shock you. > sometimes one discovers there is > no place permanent to write at all You don't need a permanent place; /tmp does fine for the minute or two you need it. -- I won't rest till it's the best ... Programmer, Linux Scalability Paul Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 1.940.382.4214 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bug#461798: [Bug-ed] Bug#461798: warn earlier about readonly files
> I would not agree that's a problem, and I would disagree that > such a change should be made. vi warns, emacs warns. > 1) Sometimes I edit a read only file, as a convenient way to > do other sorts of operations on it. Opening to read a > read-only file is not an error warning, not error. > 2) If and when I do try to write out changes to a read-only > file, it's easy to deal with the write error by writing my > changes out to a tmp file, quitting ed, and applying the > changes some other way. it usually is a big shock to me, and sometimes one discovers there is no place permanent to write at all -- all that typing will disappear... > 3) ed is legacy software - most users and usages have been > around a long time. One should not tweak discretionary > details of ed; fix real bugs, but leave the details that > are cosmetic or a matter of opinion or fashion -alone-. > Each non-essential change to ed breaks something or some > usage. OK, maybe $ ed /etc/motd 355 readonly<--adding this might break scripts, I don't know. $ ed /etc/motdd /etc/motdd: No such file or directory<--but one could also remove warnings like this, and the warning from vi. OK, you are the pros, what do I know. Anyway, ed should still be around for the next 1 years, so might as well fix the places that might cause one to lose work. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bug#461798: [Bug-ed] Bug#461798: warn earlier about readonly files
> Did I mention that ed should warn earlier that a file is readonly? I would not agree that's a problem, and I would disagree that such a change should be made. 1) Sometimes I edit a read only file, as a convenient way to do other sorts of operations on it. Opening to read a read-only file is not an error 2) If and when I do try to write out changes to a read-only file, it's easy to deal with the write error by writing my changes out to a tmp file, quitting ed, and applying the changes some other way. 3) ed is legacy software - most users and usages have been around a long time. One should not tweak discretionary details of ed; fix real bugs, but leave the details that are cosmetic or a matter of opinion or fashion -alone-. Each non-essential change to ed breaks something or some usage. -- I won't rest till it's the best ... Programmer, Linux Scalability Paul Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 1.940.382.4214 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
