order of options and parameters?

On Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 05:04:45PM -0600, Bob Proulx wrote:
...
> P.S. I have this belief that option permutation is a style that came
> to GNU from MS-DOS which always uses /options at the end of the option
> arguments rather than before them.
> 
>     dir *.* /p

that's possible (if you're talking about the people who got involved
with programming around 1990 -- before that, I've not found much influence),
but other systems have done that too.

For example, IBM VM/CMS put options at the end -- after a delimiting "("

https://invisible-island.net/personal/oldprogs.html#y1983

> I think a generation of people grew up with that syntax that options
> go at the end which caused them to want to type it in that way with
> Unix commands too.  I am sure it was at least an influence anyway.

...but AT&T getopt came earlier than 1990, anyway

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <dickey@invisible-island.net>
https://invisible-island.net