You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.
We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.
-
13This choice predates POSIX by many years. As mentioned in jlliagre's answer, it goes back to the beginning of Unix, which copied it from Multics.Barmar– Barmar2017-12-20 17:16:16 +00:00Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 17:16
-
4The choice in Linux does not predate POSIX by many years. Of course POSIX codified what was already existing practice, since that was its whole reason to exist.R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE– R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE2017-12-20 18:26:00 +00:00Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 18:26
-
As far as Linux is concerned, there was no real choice to make in the first place. The Gnu standard library which is used by Linux is contemporary to POSIX, and was using line-feed since its inception for obvious compatibility reasons because it was developed, tested and used on Unix systems. The Linux kernel was designed to provide Unix like system calls to a standard C library (GNU or other) and adding the complexity required to handle differently text files and binary files would have been overkill and break compatibility with existing code. That would have been nonsensical from Torvalds.jlliagre– jlliagre2017-12-30 14:41:32 +00:00Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 14:41
-
@jlliagre: It was still a choice to make something compatible with existing practices rather than random gratuitous incompatibilities. You can only say that wasn't a choice in the context of assuming Linux's success. Plenty of people make toy hobbyist OS's full of gratuitously wacky choices and they never go anywhere.R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE– R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE2017-12-30 16:12:34 +00:00Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 16:12
-
@R I mean Linux is only a kernel and it essentially required GNU to work (initially Torvalds goal was to be compatible with minix instead of gnu, but that makes no difference here). The newline choice is unrelated to Linux because it was made a long time before Linux was written. There has been a lot of more or less gratuitous wacky choices in the various Linux releases, they didn't prevent Linux to be successful. One of the reasons likely being that many of these choices were revisited later.jlliagre– jlliagre2017-12-31 23:52:17 +00:00Commented Dec 31, 2017 at 23:52
|
Show 1 more comment
How to Edit
- Correct minor typos or mistakes
- Clarify meaning without changing it
- Add related resources or links
- Always respect the author’s intent
- Don’t use edits to reply to the author
How to Format
-
create code fences with backticks ` or tildes ~
```
like so
``` -
add language identifier to highlight code
```python
def function(foo):
print(foo)
``` - put returns between paragraphs
- for linebreak add 2 spaces at end
- _italic_ or **bold**
- indent code by 4 spaces
- backtick escapes
`like _so_` - quote by placing > at start of line
- to make links (use https whenever possible)
<https://example.com>[example](https://example.com)<a href="https://example.com">example</a>
How to Tag
A tag is a keyword or label that categorizes your question with other, similar questions. Choose one or more (up to 5) tags that will help answerers to find and interpret your question.
- complete the sentence: my question is about...
- use tags that describe things or concepts that are essential, not incidental to your question
- favor using existing popular tags
- read the descriptions that appear below the tag
If your question is primarily about a topic for which you can't find a tag:
- combine multiple words into single-words with hyphens (e.g. shell-script), up to a maximum of 35 characters
- creating new tags is a privilege; if you can't yet create a tag you need, then post this question without it, then ask the community to create it for you