find -lname and -ilname implemented

[Jonathan McKeown]

On Tuesday 26 February 2008 01:06, Alex Zbyslaw wrote:
> Giorgos Keramidas wrote:
> >On 2008-02-23 16:48, "M. Warner Losh" <imp at bsdimp.com> wrote:
> >>This knee-jerk reaction against gnu find functionality baffles me.
> >>The changes are trivial and make FreeBSD more compatible.  It is such
> >>an obvious no-brainer that I frankly didn't expect anybody to bat an
> >>eye.
> >
> >So should I expect similar knee-jerk reactions to the just committed
> >`finger compatibility' option to implement du -l for hardlinks?
>
> FWIW, a vote in favour of compatibility shims.
>
> It's just a shame that this won't cut both ways - it would be nice, for
> example,  if Linux find would implement proper units to -atime etc.  The
> FreeBSD syntax of -atime +12h is so much nicer than -amin +720.  Ah
> well, can but dream...

I replied to Giorgos and Warner off-list, but (and this is the last time I'll 
say it as I'm starting to get boring):

I don't have a problem with compatibility shims. I would hope that the 
requirement for them, and also the amount of utility they add, are balanced 
against the extra complexity and obfuscation they cause. In the case of find, 
already a fearsomely complicated command, I wasn't sure the balance had been 
struck - although it turns out that I had misunderstood the purpose 
of -lname/-ilname, and I now see that as a useful (pair of) option(s).

What I wasn't thrilled about, and hoped to trigger a discussion of, was the 
apparent suggestion that FreeBSD must be Linux-compatible at all costs 
because weight of numbers makes Linux and GNU a de-facto standard. That's the 
argument which has allowed Microsoft to dictate some really bad software 
choices to the rest of the world - and if you doubt the problems caused by 
Microsoft software, try adminning a mail server and watching the zombie spam 
attacks from compromised Windows PCs.

I do think that where we are having problems because Linux developers are 
stuck in their bubble and don't understand the concept of portability, adding 
compatibility shims to FreeBSD should go hand-in-hand with filing bug reports 
and hoping they realise the world is more than just Linux (possibly a vain 
hope) - because there will always be some differences: and after all, it was 
the GNU project that came up with autoconf, wasn't it?

Jonathan