Can we ask for the typical *nix text editors to disobey the POSIX standard of a text file next, so that I don't need to use hex editing to get trailing newlines off the end of files?
Can we ask for the typical *nix text editors to disobey the POSIX standard of a text file next, so that I don't need to use hex editing to get trailing newlines off the end of files?
All Unix text processing tools assume that every line in a text file ends in a newline. Otherwise, it's not a text file.
There's no such thing as a "trailing newline," there is only a line-terminating newline.
I've yet to hear a convincing argument why the last line should be an exception to that extremely long-standing and well understood convention.
Is "line-terminating newline" a controlled / established term I'm unfamiliar with or am I right to hold deep contempt against you?
Because "trailing newline", contrary to what you claim, is 100% established terminology (in programming anyways), so I'd most definitely consider it "existing", and I find it actively puzzling that someone wouldn't.