Margulies.Multics@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA@rochester.UUCP (Margulies.Multics@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA) (03/20/84)
From: "Benson I. Margulies" <Margulies@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA>
The use of - on Multics is an attempt to satisfy a couple of design
goals:
1) non-positionality
The options (we call them control arguments) should be easily
distinguished from the ordinary operands. Consider:
delete foo bar >udd>m>bim>gruz c=d.q -force -query_each
if we used =, it would be force=yes, and query=each, and then there
would be two more file names that could not be easily manipulated.
Also, consider:
.... -user -me
for a comamnd which usually gets -user Margulies.Multics
What would that look like in = land? user=-me? how do you reserve
values on the right side of the equal sign?
2) a burning desire not to resemble IBM JCL in any way, means, or
fashion.
By the way, Multics usually defines -no_foo as the opposite of -foo, but
the Multics Consistent System has used -^foo with some success.
--benson