The growth of command line options, 1979-Present
Read OriginalThis article examines the dramatic increase in command line options for common Unix/Linux utilities like 'ls' and 'tar' from 1979 to 2017. It contrasts this trend with the original Unix philosophy of 'do one thing well,' citing McIlroy's criticism of bloated software. The analysis includes a data table showing the option count growth over time.
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