[TriLUG] Silly Survey about a dash or a minus in a command line option

[David Burton]

"Hyphen" or "dash" for a command-line option/switch.

Not "minus," unless the syntax of the command uses "-" to "negate" or
"disable" something. The word "minus" has the wrong semantics for
enabling/selecting options.

I usually say "hyphen" when talking to someone who might be confused, or
who might have a hard time hearing what I'm saying:
I'd say "hyphen" for "-" if in a context in which I would say "asterisk"
for "*"
I'd say "dash" for "-" if in a context in which I would say "splat" or
"star" for "*"

Dave


On Sun, Feb 10, 2013 at 5:43 PM, Ron Kelley <rkelleyrtp at gmail.com> wrote:

> dash
>
>
> -Ron
>
>
> On Feb 10, 2013, at 5:42 PM, John Vaughters wrote:
>
> > Hey all, I am in a training class and the instructer asked what is best
> way to describe the minus character in a command line option. I gave him my
> answer, but it made me think of all the conversations I have had and I am
> not sure which is used most, so I would like to ask this group.
> >
> > ls -la
> >
> > So is that a (dash)la?
> > Or a (minus)la?
> >
> > A simple response with a dash or minus would be great.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your help in resolving the critical technicality.
> >
> > My vote is dash
> >
> > John Vaughters
> > --
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