Ask HN: Why are there so few single-letter command line utilities / tools?
Is there a reason for so few single-letter command line utilities? On my macOS, running
for char in {A..z}; do type "$char" 2>/dev/null; done
gives the following
A not found
B not found
C not found
D not found
E not found
F not found
G not found
H not found
I not found
J not found
K not found
L not found
M not found
N not found
O not found
P not found
Q not found
R not found
S not found
T not found
U not found
V not found
W is /usr/bin/W
X not found
Y not found
Z not found
[ is a shell builtin
\ not found
] not found
^ not found
_ not found
` not found
a not found
b not found
c not found
d not found
e not found
f not found
g not found
h not found
i not found
j not found
k not found
l not found
m not found
n not found
o not found
p not found
q not found
r is a shell builtin
s not found
t not found
u not found
v not found
w is /usr/bin/w
x not found
y not found
z not found
Single letters are so much easier to type than any other number of letters. Curious if perhaps this was not allowed or was not possible for some reason in the earlier unix / linux days?
A not found B not found C not found D not found E not found F not found G not found H not found I not found J not found K not found L not found M not found N not found O not found P not found Q not found R not found S not found T not found U not found V not found W is /usr/bin/W X not found Y not found Z not found [ is a shell builtin \ not found ] not found ^ not found _ not found ` not found a not found b not found c not found d not found e not found f not found g not found h not found i not found j not found k not found l not found m not found n not found o not found p not found q not found r is a shell builtin s not found t not found u not found v not found w is /usr/bin/w x not found y not found z not found
Single letters are so much easier to type than any other number of letters. Curious if perhaps this was not allowed or was not possible for some reason in the earlier unix / linux days?