Why use cat to view a file? [on hold]Why is using a shell loop to process text considered bad practice?Is there ever a reason to use `cat` when you've got `less`?Using More or Less in this ScenarioHow to make “less” exit with clearing the screen?Is there ever a reason to use `cat` when you've got `less`?How to use `cat` or `less` depending on the line count?How can I get less or cat to use color in the output from .cat of my .bashrc, similar to vi 'ing it?Are `less textfile | col` and `cat textfile` the same?Can 'less -F' be usefully combined with termcap initialization?cat [file..] pipe another cat commandWhy is `sudo cat /tmp/1 > file` wrong?less file1 file2 | cat — why does it work?Why cat command doesn't use its command environment?How to make “less” exit with clearing the screen?

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Why use cat to view a file? [on hold]


Why is using a shell loop to process text considered bad practice?Is there ever a reason to use `cat` when you've got `less`?Using More or Less in this ScenarioHow to make “less” exit with clearing the screen?Is there ever a reason to use `cat` when you've got `less`?How to use `cat` or `less` depending on the line count?How can I get less or cat to use color in the output from .cat of my .bashrc, similar to vi 'ing it?Are `less textfile | col` and `cat textfile` the same?Can 'less -F' be usefully combined with termcap initialization?cat [file..] pipe another cat commandWhy is `sudo cat /tmp/1 > file` wrong?less file1 file2 | cat — why does it work?Why cat command doesn't use its command environment?How to make “less” exit with clearing the screen?






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








1















It seems that the purpose of cat is to concatenate several files. However, many people still use cat instead of less (or a similar program like more) to display a file. See, for example, the GNU m4 manual.




Man page: less



-F or --quit-if-one-screen



    Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen.



-X or --no-init



    Disables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes desirable if the deinitialization string does something unnecessary, like clearing the screen.




Nowadays, is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file? Why use cat to view a file?



This makes me think to Useless Use Of Cat.



Note: This question is not about the differences between less and more. Moreover, it concerns the visualization of a file created earlier.










share|improve this question















put on hold as primarily opinion-based by muru, Prvt_Yadv, roaima, Stephen Harris, Vlastimil 4 hours ago


Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.













  • 5





    If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

    – wurtel
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

    – Freddy
    7 hours ago






  • 3





    This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

    – RoVo
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago

















1















It seems that the purpose of cat is to concatenate several files. However, many people still use cat instead of less (or a similar program like more) to display a file. See, for example, the GNU m4 manual.




Man page: less



-F or --quit-if-one-screen



    Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen.



-X or --no-init



    Disables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes desirable if the deinitialization string does something unnecessary, like clearing the screen.




Nowadays, is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file? Why use cat to view a file?



This makes me think to Useless Use Of Cat.



Note: This question is not about the differences between less and more. Moreover, it concerns the visualization of a file created earlier.










share|improve this question















put on hold as primarily opinion-based by muru, Prvt_Yadv, roaima, Stephen Harris, Vlastimil 4 hours ago


Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.













  • 5





    If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

    – wurtel
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

    – Freddy
    7 hours ago






  • 3





    This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

    – RoVo
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago













1












1








1








It seems that the purpose of cat is to concatenate several files. However, many people still use cat instead of less (or a similar program like more) to display a file. See, for example, the GNU m4 manual.




Man page: less



-F or --quit-if-one-screen



    Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen.



-X or --no-init



    Disables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes desirable if the deinitialization string does something unnecessary, like clearing the screen.




Nowadays, is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file? Why use cat to view a file?



This makes me think to Useless Use Of Cat.



Note: This question is not about the differences between less and more. Moreover, it concerns the visualization of a file created earlier.










share|improve this question
















It seems that the purpose of cat is to concatenate several files. However, many people still use cat instead of less (or a similar program like more) to display a file. See, for example, the GNU m4 manual.




Man page: less



-F or --quit-if-one-screen



    Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen.



-X or --no-init



    Disables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. This is sometimes desirable if the deinitialization string does something unnecessary, like clearing the screen.




Nowadays, is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file? Why use cat to view a file?



This makes me think to Useless Use Of Cat.



Note: This question is not about the differences between less and more. Moreover, it concerns the visualization of a file created earlier.







text-processing cat less






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 2 hours ago







Fólkvangr

















asked 8 hours ago









FólkvangrFólkvangr

34014




34014




put on hold as primarily opinion-based by muru, Prvt_Yadv, roaima, Stephen Harris, Vlastimil 4 hours ago


Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.









put on hold as primarily opinion-based by muru, Prvt_Yadv, roaima, Stephen Harris, Vlastimil 4 hours ago


Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.









  • 5





    If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

    – wurtel
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

    – Freddy
    7 hours ago






  • 3





    This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

    – RoVo
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • 5





    If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

    – wurtel
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

    – Freddy
    7 hours ago






  • 3





    This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

    – RoVo
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago







5




5





If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

– wurtel
8 hours ago





If you know a file isn't that large, cat is easier: how many keystrokes do you need to type cat vs. less -F?

– wurtel
8 hours ago




3




3





And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

– Freddy
7 hours ago





And with cat you can continue your work in the same terminal and the output is still visible to lookup something, copy & paste etc.

– Freddy
7 hours ago




3




3





This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

– JdeBP
7 hours ago






This question is going to generate a lot of personal opinion and blatant speculation, and little in the way of documented analyses or facts. Plus lengthy back and forth in comments of things that we already have questions and answers about, such as unix.stackexchange.com/q/463102/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/q/21548/5132 .

– JdeBP
7 hours ago





1




1





I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

– RoVo
7 hours ago





I need an additional -X, otherwise I don't see anything for small files...

– RoVo
7 hours ago




2




2





@Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

– Fólkvangr
5 hours ago





@Kusalananda: In general, c.f. GNU M4 manual.

– Fólkvangr
5 hours ago










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes


















6














I'm going to assume that the "many people" in the question refers to people writing tutorials, manuals, or answers on web-sites such as this one.



When writing terminal commands in a text document, the cat command is commonly used to show the contents of a file.



An example of this:



$ cat script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'




$ chmod +x script.sh




$ ./script.sh
hello


Here, I show that I have a file called script.sh, what its contents is, that I'm making it executable and that I'm running it and what the result of that is.



Using cat in this example is just a way of "showing all one's cards", i.e. to explicitly display all the prerequisites for an example (and doing it as part of a textual representation of a terminal session).



less and other screen based pagers, depending on how they are used, would not necessarily give that output in the terminal. So if I wrote



$ less script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'


and a user tried it by themselves, they may wonder why the text of the script appears different in their terminal and then disappears from the terminal once they closed the less pager (if that's the way they've configured the pager), or whether their less is different from the less used in the answer (or tutorial or whatever it may be), or if they're doing something else wrong. Allowing for the possibility of this train of thought is counterproductive and disruptive for the user.



Using cat when showing an example in the terminal as text is good as it gives a fairly easy way of reproducing the exact same results as in the given text. For larger files, it may be better to show the file separately, and then concentrate on how that file is used when writing the terminal command as text.



If you prefer to use less, more, most, view, sublime, or some other pager or program to view files, that's totally fine. Go ahead and do that. But if you want to provide a reproducible text describing some workflow in the terminal, you would have to also give the user a warning that the output may differ between what they read and what they see in their own terminal, depending on what pager is used and how it's configured.






share|improve this answer

























  • In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

    – SaggingRufus
    4 hours ago


















6














less is a non-standard GNU utility.



cat is POSIX:




 The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 edition
IEEE Std 1003.1-2017 (Revision of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008)
Copyright © 2001-2018 IEEE and The Open Group





NAME



cat - concatenate and print files



SYNOPSIS



cat [-u] [file...]


...




cat is more likely to exist and to have consistent behavior.






share|improve this answer


















  • 3





    That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

    – Andrew Henle
    7 hours ago











  • @JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago












  • The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

    – Mark Plotnick
    3 hours ago



















3














IMHO, I guess it's an "old / bad" habit. Myself, I always use cat because I do not think about less that is more suitable.
If you try to display the contents of a binary file, less asks if you agree to display it anyway and automatically paginates a text when it is long.
Cat is short to write and is easy to use for very short files that do not require paging.
Nevertheless, it is indeed intended for concatenation. In this case, used to display text, it performs a concatenation on the standard output of the file given in argument 1 and the standard input which is the default of argument 2.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 1





    I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago











  • The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

    – Fólkvangr
    6 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

    – RoVo
    6 hours ago



















3















is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file?




IMO, it's neither good nor bad.



"Good practice" is whatever makes you more effective as an individual and, what is often more important, it's whatever makes you a more effective member of some team.



Your preference for what tool you use to view short text files is not likely to affect your work or, how you get along with your co-workers.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

    – Fólkvangr
    2 hours ago


















4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes








4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









6














I'm going to assume that the "many people" in the question refers to people writing tutorials, manuals, or answers on web-sites such as this one.



When writing terminal commands in a text document, the cat command is commonly used to show the contents of a file.



An example of this:



$ cat script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'




$ chmod +x script.sh




$ ./script.sh
hello


Here, I show that I have a file called script.sh, what its contents is, that I'm making it executable and that I'm running it and what the result of that is.



Using cat in this example is just a way of "showing all one's cards", i.e. to explicitly display all the prerequisites for an example (and doing it as part of a textual representation of a terminal session).



less and other screen based pagers, depending on how they are used, would not necessarily give that output in the terminal. So if I wrote



$ less script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'


and a user tried it by themselves, they may wonder why the text of the script appears different in their terminal and then disappears from the terminal once they closed the less pager (if that's the way they've configured the pager), or whether their less is different from the less used in the answer (or tutorial or whatever it may be), or if they're doing something else wrong. Allowing for the possibility of this train of thought is counterproductive and disruptive for the user.



Using cat when showing an example in the terminal as text is good as it gives a fairly easy way of reproducing the exact same results as in the given text. For larger files, it may be better to show the file separately, and then concentrate on how that file is used when writing the terminal command as text.



If you prefer to use less, more, most, view, sublime, or some other pager or program to view files, that's totally fine. Go ahead and do that. But if you want to provide a reproducible text describing some workflow in the terminal, you would have to also give the user a warning that the output may differ between what they read and what they see in their own terminal, depending on what pager is used and how it's configured.






share|improve this answer

























  • In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

    – SaggingRufus
    4 hours ago















6














I'm going to assume that the "many people" in the question refers to people writing tutorials, manuals, or answers on web-sites such as this one.



When writing terminal commands in a text document, the cat command is commonly used to show the contents of a file.



An example of this:



$ cat script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'




$ chmod +x script.sh




$ ./script.sh
hello


Here, I show that I have a file called script.sh, what its contents is, that I'm making it executable and that I'm running it and what the result of that is.



Using cat in this example is just a way of "showing all one's cards", i.e. to explicitly display all the prerequisites for an example (and doing it as part of a textual representation of a terminal session).



less and other screen based pagers, depending on how they are used, would not necessarily give that output in the terminal. So if I wrote



$ less script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'


and a user tried it by themselves, they may wonder why the text of the script appears different in their terminal and then disappears from the terminal once they closed the less pager (if that's the way they've configured the pager), or whether their less is different from the less used in the answer (or tutorial or whatever it may be), or if they're doing something else wrong. Allowing for the possibility of this train of thought is counterproductive and disruptive for the user.



Using cat when showing an example in the terminal as text is good as it gives a fairly easy way of reproducing the exact same results as in the given text. For larger files, it may be better to show the file separately, and then concentrate on how that file is used when writing the terminal command as text.



If you prefer to use less, more, most, view, sublime, or some other pager or program to view files, that's totally fine. Go ahead and do that. But if you want to provide a reproducible text describing some workflow in the terminal, you would have to also give the user a warning that the output may differ between what they read and what they see in their own terminal, depending on what pager is used and how it's configured.






share|improve this answer

























  • In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

    – SaggingRufus
    4 hours ago













6












6








6







I'm going to assume that the "many people" in the question refers to people writing tutorials, manuals, or answers on web-sites such as this one.



When writing terminal commands in a text document, the cat command is commonly used to show the contents of a file.



An example of this:



$ cat script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'




$ chmod +x script.sh




$ ./script.sh
hello


Here, I show that I have a file called script.sh, what its contents is, that I'm making it executable and that I'm running it and what the result of that is.



Using cat in this example is just a way of "showing all one's cards", i.e. to explicitly display all the prerequisites for an example (and doing it as part of a textual representation of a terminal session).



less and other screen based pagers, depending on how they are used, would not necessarily give that output in the terminal. So if I wrote



$ less script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'


and a user tried it by themselves, they may wonder why the text of the script appears different in their terminal and then disappears from the terminal once they closed the less pager (if that's the way they've configured the pager), or whether their less is different from the less used in the answer (or tutorial or whatever it may be), or if they're doing something else wrong. Allowing for the possibility of this train of thought is counterproductive and disruptive for the user.



Using cat when showing an example in the terminal as text is good as it gives a fairly easy way of reproducing the exact same results as in the given text. For larger files, it may be better to show the file separately, and then concentrate on how that file is used when writing the terminal command as text.



If you prefer to use less, more, most, view, sublime, or some other pager or program to view files, that's totally fine. Go ahead and do that. But if you want to provide a reproducible text describing some workflow in the terminal, you would have to also give the user a warning that the output may differ between what they read and what they see in their own terminal, depending on what pager is used and how it's configured.






share|improve this answer















I'm going to assume that the "many people" in the question refers to people writing tutorials, manuals, or answers on web-sites such as this one.



When writing terminal commands in a text document, the cat command is commonly used to show the contents of a file.



An example of this:



$ cat script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'




$ chmod +x script.sh




$ ./script.sh
hello


Here, I show that I have a file called script.sh, what its contents is, that I'm making it executable and that I'm running it and what the result of that is.



Using cat in this example is just a way of "showing all one's cards", i.e. to explicitly display all the prerequisites for an example (and doing it as part of a textual representation of a terminal session).



less and other screen based pagers, depending on how they are used, would not necessarily give that output in the terminal. So if I wrote



$ less script.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'hello'


and a user tried it by themselves, they may wonder why the text of the script appears different in their terminal and then disappears from the terminal once they closed the less pager (if that's the way they've configured the pager), or whether their less is different from the less used in the answer (or tutorial or whatever it may be), or if they're doing something else wrong. Allowing for the possibility of this train of thought is counterproductive and disruptive for the user.



Using cat when showing an example in the terminal as text is good as it gives a fairly easy way of reproducing the exact same results as in the given text. For larger files, it may be better to show the file separately, and then concentrate on how that file is used when writing the terminal command as text.



If you prefer to use less, more, most, view, sublime, or some other pager or program to view files, that's totally fine. Go ahead and do that. But if you want to provide a reproducible text describing some workflow in the terminal, you would have to also give the user a warning that the output may differ between what they read and what they see in their own terminal, depending on what pager is used and how it's configured.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 5 hours ago

























answered 5 hours ago









KusalanandaKusalananda

140k17261435




140k17261435












  • In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

    – SaggingRufus
    4 hours ago

















  • In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

    – Fólkvangr
    5 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

    – SaggingRufus
    4 hours ago
















In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

– Fólkvangr
5 hours ago






In my opinion, the reader should be informed as you say in your answer; e.g. using cat to display a file: why does this text disappear on the screen?.

– Fólkvangr
5 hours ago














@Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

– SaggingRufus
4 hours ago





@Fólkvangr the writers of the articles/answers have no idea about the skill level of the person reading the answer. Depending on what the context is, this could be someone brand new and they don't know anything. Lot's of people just google answers and follow line by line without fully understanding. By making it easier for the audience, the writer ensures no ambiguity or further questions, like where did the text go.

– SaggingRufus
4 hours ago













6














less is a non-standard GNU utility.



cat is POSIX:




 The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 edition
IEEE Std 1003.1-2017 (Revision of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008)
Copyright © 2001-2018 IEEE and The Open Group





NAME



cat - concatenate and print files



SYNOPSIS



cat [-u] [file...]


...




cat is more likely to exist and to have consistent behavior.






share|improve this answer


















  • 3





    That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

    – Andrew Henle
    7 hours ago











  • @JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago












  • The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

    – Mark Plotnick
    3 hours ago
















6














less is a non-standard GNU utility.



cat is POSIX:




 The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 edition
IEEE Std 1003.1-2017 (Revision of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008)
Copyright © 2001-2018 IEEE and The Open Group





NAME



cat - concatenate and print files



SYNOPSIS



cat [-u] [file...]


...




cat is more likely to exist and to have consistent behavior.






share|improve this answer


















  • 3





    That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

    – Andrew Henle
    7 hours ago











  • @JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago












  • The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

    – Mark Plotnick
    3 hours ago














6












6








6







less is a non-standard GNU utility.



cat is POSIX:




 The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 edition
IEEE Std 1003.1-2017 (Revision of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008)
Copyright © 2001-2018 IEEE and The Open Group





NAME



cat - concatenate and print files



SYNOPSIS



cat [-u] [file...]


...




cat is more likely to exist and to have consistent behavior.






share|improve this answer













less is a non-standard GNU utility.



cat is POSIX:




 The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 edition
IEEE Std 1003.1-2017 (Revision of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008)
Copyright © 2001-2018 IEEE and The Open Group





NAME



cat - concatenate and print files



SYNOPSIS



cat [-u] [file...]


...




cat is more likely to exist and to have consistent behavior.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 8 hours ago









Andrew HenleAndrew Henle

2,847911




2,847911







  • 3





    That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

    – Andrew Henle
    7 hours ago











  • @JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago












  • The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

    – Mark Plotnick
    3 hours ago













  • 3





    That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    @JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

    – Andrew Henle
    7 hours ago











  • @JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago












  • The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

    – JdeBP
    7 hours ago







  • 1





    So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

    – Mark Plotnick
    3 hours ago








3




3





That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

– JdeBP
7 hours ago





That argument rather falls over when it turns out that so too is more. (-:

– JdeBP
7 hours ago




2




2





@JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

– Andrew Henle
7 hours ago





@JdeBP True, but the question refers to less quite specifically, relegating more to a footnote - literally. I'm also pretty sure that footnote wasn't in the original posting (edits made in the first few minutes don't show).

– Andrew Henle
7 hours ago













@JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

– 0xSheepdog
7 hours ago






@JdeBP Except more does not have the additional functionality of less and still requires more keystrokes, and different commands/function keys, to do things. There are several ways to do almost EVERYTHING in *NIX. Often there is no single "correct" way of doing it (all things being equal). Now, if you need a method that does not spawn additional processes, or have other esoteric limitations, then certainly the ability to do things multiple ways is good.

– 0xSheepdog
7 hours ago














The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

– JdeBP
7 hours ago






The question is not asking about additional functionality, and as even M. Henle acknowledges, explicitly includes more in what it is asking about. An argument that only the cat program in the question is standard falls over because it isn't true. It's as simple as that. Remember where I wrote about comment discussions that address things that we already have Q&As about? Here you are doing it. Read unix.stackexchange.com/a/333946/5132 and unix.stackexchange.com/a/340511/5132 for starters.

– JdeBP
7 hours ago





1




1





So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

– Mark Plotnick
3 hours ago






So, more is more standard, less is less standard, and more has more functionality than cat. but more has less functionality than less.

– Mark Plotnick
3 hours ago












3














IMHO, I guess it's an "old / bad" habit. Myself, I always use cat because I do not think about less that is more suitable.
If you try to display the contents of a binary file, less asks if you agree to display it anyway and automatically paginates a text when it is long.
Cat is short to write and is easy to use for very short files that do not require paging.
Nevertheless, it is indeed intended for concatenation. In this case, used to display text, it performs a concatenation on the standard output of the file given in argument 1 and the standard input which is the default of argument 2.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 1





    I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago











  • The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

    – Fólkvangr
    6 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

    – RoVo
    6 hours ago
















3














IMHO, I guess it's an "old / bad" habit. Myself, I always use cat because I do not think about less that is more suitable.
If you try to display the contents of a binary file, less asks if you agree to display it anyway and automatically paginates a text when it is long.
Cat is short to write and is easy to use for very short files that do not require paging.
Nevertheless, it is indeed intended for concatenation. In this case, used to display text, it performs a concatenation on the standard output of the file given in argument 1 and the standard input which is the default of argument 2.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 1





    I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago











  • The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

    – Fólkvangr
    6 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

    – RoVo
    6 hours ago














3












3








3







IMHO, I guess it's an "old / bad" habit. Myself, I always use cat because I do not think about less that is more suitable.
If you try to display the contents of a binary file, less asks if you agree to display it anyway and automatically paginates a text when it is long.
Cat is short to write and is easy to use for very short files that do not require paging.
Nevertheless, it is indeed intended for concatenation. In this case, used to display text, it performs a concatenation on the standard output of the file given in argument 1 and the standard input which is the default of argument 2.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.










IMHO, I guess it's an "old / bad" habit. Myself, I always use cat because I do not think about less that is more suitable.
If you try to display the contents of a binary file, less asks if you agree to display it anyway and automatically paginates a text when it is long.
Cat is short to write and is easy to use for very short files that do not require paging.
Nevertheless, it is indeed intended for concatenation. In this case, used to display text, it performs a concatenation on the standard output of the file given in argument 1 and the standard input which is the default of argument 2.







share|improve this answer








New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer






New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered 7 hours ago









PhLinuXPhLinuX

365




365




New contributor




PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






PhLinuX is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







  • 1





    I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago











  • The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

    – Fólkvangr
    6 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

    – RoVo
    6 hours ago













  • 1





    I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

    – 0xSheepdog
    7 hours ago











  • The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

    – Fólkvangr
    6 hours ago












  • @Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

    – RoVo
    6 hours ago








1




1





I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

– 0xSheepdog
7 hours ago





I'm with you, but I don't feel there is anything "bad" about the habit. Purely a preference thing, given the other reasons that have also been listed.

– 0xSheepdog
7 hours ago













The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

– Fólkvangr
6 hours ago






The user can type less and use export LESS=-FX or alias less='less -FX' in its shell initialization file. These options allow to display a file like cat.

– Fólkvangr
6 hours ago














@Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

– RoVo
6 hours ago






@Fólkvangr: not a good idea when you need to work on a lot of systems.

– RoVo
6 hours ago












3















is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file?




IMO, it's neither good nor bad.



"Good practice" is whatever makes you more effective as an individual and, what is often more important, it's whatever makes you a more effective member of some team.



Your preference for what tool you use to view short text files is not likely to affect your work or, how you get along with your co-workers.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

    – Fólkvangr
    2 hours ago
















3















is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file?




IMO, it's neither good nor bad.



"Good practice" is whatever makes you more effective as an individual and, what is often more important, it's whatever makes you a more effective member of some team.



Your preference for what tool you use to view short text files is not likely to affect your work or, how you get along with your co-workers.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

    – Fólkvangr
    2 hours ago














3












3








3








is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file?




IMO, it's neither good nor bad.



"Good practice" is whatever makes you more effective as an individual and, what is often more important, it's whatever makes you a more effective member of some team.



Your preference for what tool you use to view short text files is not likely to affect your work or, how you get along with your co-workers.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











is it a good practice to use cat to display or view a file?




IMO, it's neither good nor bad.



"Good practice" is whatever makes you more effective as an individual and, what is often more important, it's whatever makes you a more effective member of some team.



Your preference for what tool you use to view short text files is not likely to affect your work or, how you get along with your co-workers.







share|improve this answer










New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 3 hours ago





















New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered 4 hours ago









Solomon SlowSolomon Slow

1314




1314




New contributor




Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Solomon Slow is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

    – Fólkvangr
    2 hours ago


















  • I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

    – Fólkvangr
    2 hours ago

















I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

– Fólkvangr
2 hours ago






I mean that some tools are used incorrectly, c.f. unix.stackexchange.com/q/169716/286944. sed and ed seem similar but have probably different uses.

– Fólkvangr
2 hours ago




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