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217 points tanelpoder | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.208s | source
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jandrese ◴[] No.26492618[source]
This seems to be more of "don't paste garbage into a terminal, especially as root." With a sidenote that it might be safer if your custom application command interpreter didn't use > as the prompt character. I note that Bourne shell defaults to the safer % and # characters for the prompt. The # character for root is especially safe.
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rcarmo ◴[] No.26492739[source]
Yeah. About the only relevant bit is that root prompts tend to use # as part of their prompt precisely to inject a comment character in case of mis-quotes/pastes.
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minitoar ◴[] No.26492855[source]
Wow I never heard that! I always thought it was just some arbitrary convention I guess.
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nemosaltat ◴[] No.26494966[source]
This is why I hang out here!

Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1053/

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reaperducer ◴[] No.26495236[source]
This is getting to be a tired meme.

While it doesn't apply to shell prompts, there are such things as cultural memory and institutional memory. As a member of a group or society, you are expected to have a certain baseline amount of knowledge of that culture and history.

When I was young, it was considered shameful not to know things. Now the people I work with seem to wear ignorance as a badge of pride. They think that not knowing something means that thing is not worth knowing. As if somehow not knowing something is a good thing.

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1. eyelidlessness ◴[] No.26499597[source]
I want to curmudgeonly respond that you’re selling people short. But honestly I’m gonna repeat the theme of the comic.

You’re today’s lucky one, you get to learn something new! People shelter themselves with the familiar all the time. You have too! You started your explanation of your perspective with “when I was young”, and that’s obviously something you’ve held onto.

I’m gonna make your day. Did you know that people, in your life or waiting in the wings, are gonna be grateful for the things you can show them? The only thing you need to do is be just thrilled to introduce it, whatever it is, even if they don’t have the thrill yet.

You just gotta get enough in tune emotionally to know what they’re gonna want to know and how to tell them. That’s a fun new exploration all for you.