Theoretical vs Practical Knowledge

Thu Dec 13 18:58:04 PST 2001

>> describe options to ls

> I would just say the the alphabet in upper and lower case. :)
> 
> ls -[a-zA-z]
> 
> :)

You forgot ls -1 ?  That's not a description, it's a regex.

There's actually still a few letters left blank, but you get a trivial
pursuit piewacket in the SAGE green category if you can name them without
hitting 'man ls' first.

Uh, I think my answer would be more like "the natural effect of 'always
adding another display feature as a command letter' syndrome."

The point is to get people's reactions - people who are experienced know
that asking for all the options is a trick question, people who aren't
think "wax" or "-elf" is a single option.  It might not even disqualify
folks;  it just helps pigeonhole their experience level.

  . | .   Heather Stern                  |         star at starshine.org
--->*<--- Starshine Technical Services - * - consulting at starshine.org
  ' | `   Sysadmin Support and Training  |        (800) 938-4078