On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 20:13:59 -0600, Paul Gilmartin <[email protected]> wrote:
>I don't understand " The "-" simplifies parsing." I asked claude.ai "why do unix command options begin with -" and one of the bullet points says it simplifies parsing. If you want to understand parsing, I think claude.ai can help you out. Claude.ai said: Parsing simplicity: The dash makes it trivial for programs to identify options during command-line parsing. The shell and programs can easily scan for arguments starting with - and treat them as flags or options rather than filenames or other operands. > Generally, TRT and TR are overused; > to IBM developers they're the shiny new hammer, >making everything look like a nail. You don't understand TRT and TR. Look at ICONV character translation module in GLIBC. Claude.AI can help you here too. >The right reaction would have been to make DISABLE(DSNCHECK) the default. It's unclear which default you are referring to but that's irrelevant. I don't hear anyone else complaining about this default. >> 3277 keyboard was dual case keyboard. I don't remember using caps lock so >> I'm guessing it defaulted to uppercase. >> >It didn't have CAPS LOCK. I believe it had SHIFT LOCK which IBM offered a variety of 3277 keyboards and at least 2 offered a lowercase version. Why didn't you order one since you needed lowercase? Either I had the lowercase keyboard or it was irrelevant for my needs because I don't remember being annoyed. Oil companies bought 1 of everything and It was the APL keyboard that annoyed me.
