Re: a couple of things I dislike about BSD

[Freddie Cash <fjwcash@xxxxxxxxx>]

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On Jul 22, 2012 5:42 PM, "Pierre Abbat" <phma@phma.optus.nu> wrote:
>
> 1. When I run bc, I frequently edit the previous line and make a change:
> 15/56
> .26785714285714285714
> a(15/56)
> .26171350240120506395
> a(15/56)*45/a(1)
> 14.99507912917598589467
> In Linux, I hit uparrow and edit the line. In DFBSD, I have to type the
whole
> line again. This is, I'm sure, a license issue; the readline library in
DFly
> is GNU readline. The bugs section says "It=E2=80=99s too big and too slow=
," so why
> not write a BSD version that's smaller and faster?
> (The calculation relates to the upper slope of my future house's roof.)

There is one already. It's called libedit. Don't know what the status is in
DFlyBSD, but it's basically replaced readline in FreeBSD.

> 2. less in Linux saves the screen when it starts and restores it when it
ends.
> In DFly it doesn't; it leaves a screenful of the file visible when it
exits.
> This isn't that big a deal, except when I'm looking at my PIN or password
> file, which I do with less, not cat, so that it won't be left on my
screen.
> Not that it really matters, since I'm alone, but to some people it may.

This is something I absolutely hate about Linux distros. Makes reading man
pages a royal pain, as the page disappears instead of remaining onscreen
where you can read it while running commands. As such, I add PAGER=3D'less
-X' to all my Linux boxes to get the BSD behaviour.

Read the man page for less to see which flag to set in which env variable
to make less work the way you want.

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<p><br>
On Jul 22, 2012 5:42 PM, &quot;Pierre Abbat&quot; &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:phm=
a@phma.optus.nu">phma@phma.optus.nu</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; 1. When I run bc, I frequently edit the previous line and make a chang=
e:<br>
&gt; 15/56<br>
&gt; .26785714285714285714<br>
&gt; a(15/56)<br>
&gt; .26171350240120506395<br>
&gt; a(15/56)*45/a(1)<br>
&gt; 14.99507912917598589467<br>
&gt; In Linux, I hit uparrow and edit the line. In DFBSD, I have to type th=
e whole<br>
&gt; line again. This is, I&#39;m sure, a license issue; the readline libra=
ry in DFly<br>
&gt; is GNU readline. The bugs section says &quot;It=E2=80=99s too big and =
too slow,&quot; so why<br>
&gt; not write a BSD version that&#39;s smaller and faster?<br>
&gt; (The calculation relates to the upper slope of my future house&#39;s r=
oof.)</p>
<p>There is one already. It&#39;s called libedit. Don&#39;t know what the s=
tatus is in DFlyBSD, but it&#39;s basically replaced readline in FreeBSD.</=
p>
<p>&gt; 2. less in Linux saves the screen when it starts and restores it wh=
en it ends.<br>
&gt; In DFly it doesn&#39;t; it leaves a screenful of the file visible when=
 it exits.<br>
&gt; This isn&#39;t that big a deal, except when I&#39;m looking at my PIN =
or password<br>
&gt; file, which I do with less, not cat, so that it won&#39;t be left on m=
y screen.<br>
&gt; Not that it really matters, since I&#39;m alone, but to some people it=
 may.</p>
<p>This is something I absolutely hate about Linux distros. Makes reading m=
an pages a royal pain, as the page disappears instead of remaining onscreen=
 where you can read it while running commands. As such, I add PAGER=3D&#39;=
less -X&#39; to all my Linux boxes to get the BSD behaviour.</p>

<p>Read the man page for less to see which flag to set in which env variabl=
e to make less work the way you want.<br>
</p>

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