default pager (csh)

Xin Li delphij at delphij.net
Wed Feb 18 23:42:28 UTC 2015


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On 02/18/15 15:18, Davide Italiano wrote:
> Hi, one of the first things I do when I install FreeBSD is to
> switch the default PAGER from more(1) to less(1). This is
> particularly convenient, e.g. while using git diff, to show
> something more readable. Just out of curiosity, is there a reason
> why more(1) is still the default, and/or is this just historical?

The _only_ reason that I can think of is that more(1) does not clear
screen for certain terminals (done with 'ti' and 'te' sequences),
while less(1) when running as less does.

The less(1) behavior can be annoying to some people (sometimes even
myself when using less to show contents of a file and ^Z to paste
them), and unfortunately quite a few of them also happen to be the
more vocal ones when it comes to a change.

Other behavioral difference are trivial (or people care less to speak up).

I use less(1) instead of more(1) on all systems I have, so if some
brave soul wants to make the change I'd say "just go for it!" but
that's my $0.02 only.

Cheers,
- -- 
Xin LI <delphij at delphij.net>    https://www.delphij.net/
FreeBSD - The Power to Serve!           Live free or die
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