what's up with the ranting, dude? maybe you should consider some meditation or relaxation techniques, or some prozac or xanax or something.

mv and cp perform TWO DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS (at least), not the same function. mv MOVES the file/s to another directory (or renames it). cp COPIES the file to another directory, while LEAVING a copy in the original location. TWO different functions, TWO different end results. not the same end result.

furthermore, if we only had one command -- cp -- and we wanted to MOVE a file, we would have to copy it first to where it's going, and then delete it from its original location. so your way would take TWO maneuvers, instead of only taking one by MOVING the file with mv. that is not very elegant, nor efficient, nor economical.

and btw, Unix already is the "mainstream" of computing, and has been for decades before there even was a windows or microsoft. so give the ranting a rest please, or at least get a clue b4 spewing more rants.

You are missing the point.

It would be very easy to make cp do the EXACT SAME THING that mv does. All that is needed is to add another switch to the cp command... a -move switch. When the -move switch is specified, cp will MOVE the file, not copy/delete it.

Capiche Paisan?

No it isnt in the mainstream of home computing, or even business computing desktops. Unix has been for the most part, and still is, a server OS. All Linux did was make Unix cheap, but it is still a server OS, and will continue to be so until the issues of complexity are addressed.

And dont forget Bill Gates made ALOT of other people rich as well. In many ways the size of his fortune reflects how much money he made possible for others to make.

Easy...if this turns from a windows/linux debate into a "lets all bash windows post" things are bound to get ugly. I'm not a windows basher by any means, it has it's place as does *NIX

lol, i don't think so. the point is anyone who would rant on for pages about how the cp command *could* do the same thing the mv did, if you just fixed it, or removed the mv, or did this, or did that, or added switches (but then you'd have to learn the switches, right? i thought you didn't want to learn more commands?) would appear to have some serious issues that go way beyond linux. have fun on your "usability" crusade.

then why don't you write it that way and compile it into your OS instead of bitching to us about it? since it's so easy and the way it is is so incorrect and problematic?

Just want to say something.... I didnt read all the topic (don't have the time either lol) but I think (this is a personal opinion) that the more complicated it is (linux) the more powerful and the easiest, the more crappy (windows). You can't really have somthing that is easy and powerful at the same time when comming to OSs and even computers (excluding macs of course , but who can afford that dual G5 just for "playing" with it and not doing multimedia-based work ).

I think this guy man need gates or torvalds to show him how to turn on his computer. Maybe that why the mv command won't work.

Please stop this here!!Let 'mv' command be a replacement of 'cp and rm'.even then,what is the problem??Again let me say,there is no problem with 'mv'.In the case of destination file,the asteric is no more a wildcard.'*.c' as a destination file is '*.c' and not 'anything.c'.fine??
DOS was born from UNIX.All the windows with dos based kernels(95,98,ME etc) thus have got a unix connection.If you find it tough to agree to this,that is UNIX is not a mainstream OS,dont use it.continue to use windows or whatever you want.What you wanted was to know a command to rename and it is 'rename',fine??And if you still want to have some linux/Unix bashing,go to www.linuxsucks.com .If you have any valid points against linux,post them here.And not some bullshit like "there is a bug with 'mv' command,it is a replacement of 'cp and rm',so linux and unix sucks"
--arun.

doesn't dos have a copy and a mov command? does copy have a -move flag in dos? so what are you saying? don't you still have to know more commands? doesn't dos also have rmdir? if you don't want to use rmdir, use 'rm -r'. in dos i believe it's deltree. same amount of commands in windows as unix. plus the definition of mainstream should be defined should it not? if mainstream is home users, then by all means *nix would probably have to deal with complexity issues. i myself don't find it complex. but anyway before home computing was mainstream, mainstream computing was in the realm of science and acadamia. it's still pretty mainstream in that area as well as in the server area. but once again, if you have a question to a problem, ask it. leave the evangilism at home. if you think mv should be gone, then get rid of it yourself and modify cp to suit your needs yourself. the original pioneers of linux never cared or pushed linux to become mainstream home computing. they still don't. it was a project that interested them and the things they coded were really a way for them to get around their own problems. if it helps someone else, great, but don't think for a second that your problems with something outweighs the fact that it solved their problems. you have a choice. if you want to use linux and can't make the necessary modifications yourself, then learn how it's done on linux. if you don't want to do that, then stick with windows. no one cares why you think windows is better or less complex or whatever. it's your choice. most of us use linux because it works better for us than windows does. that may or may not pertain to you or the next guy. but it works better for a lot of us and nothing is going to change that. if windows works better for you than use it. if you absolutely hate linux, then don't use it and don't rant about it here because it works for a lot of us and truthfully, it makes you look like a whiner to many here. if you want help with linux though, post your question without the evangelical opinion. because really when it comes to the rant your putting forth here (windows better than linux, blah blah blah) , your opinion doesn't really mean squat to those who use linux and like it better than windows. just my 2 cents.

rotflmfao.

That's almost as good as having to click "start" in order to shutdown a computer. You should mail MS, they might be more receptive to your suggestions

heheh.

and while we're at it, why not add a -make switch to the cp command, too, and a -cd switch, and an -ls switch, and any other switch we want. then when we needed to make, we could just cp with the make flag:

cp -make

and cp -cd to change directory, and cp -ls to list it.

and we could also cp -exit, and cp -reboot, and cp --shutdown-h-now. we could add every unix command there is to the cp function, and then just think -- we'd only need one command for all of linux! how easy and usable that would be! bill wouldn't stand a chance. he'd be resurrecting DOS just to implement this great new simplified and usable OS idea. lol.

@ arunshivanandan ~

Man - sounds like those people on that site are scared of something they can't understand. Trying their hardest to herd the sheep back to a mono controlled world. It's a funny site alright - I laughed - at them. People can be So Stupid.


[edit]

synaptical ~ that's a good one. I'm sure the Ooopicmashtor might even see the funny side to that one...naaah - prolly not. [???]

Is anyone else here seeing an inconsistency between a "home user" who "doesn't care whether an actual File Copy has occurred or not" and a "home user" who is using the command-line?

I thought that the whole issue was that "home users" are paralyzed with terror at the very sight of a CLI, which is why we have KDE, GNOME and Lindows.

Yes, I know I shouldn't even be posting in this thread. I just couldn't stand it.

I say go back to windows if you're unhappy.

same advice from me.
if you are unhappy about 'mv' and therefore you think linux is all scrap,then why are you trying linux??Even if you dont try linux,who cares??and who is the looser??May be this could have saved a few kbs in the linuxquestions.org archive,and may be all those who posted in the thread would have posted replies to some other genuinely help needed threads.I think its high time to stop posting in this thread.This thread never deserves such a high profile.
--arun.

this is sad. without fail, the threads with the most responses are those that bash linux or approve of windows. what a waste of resources! those of you who visit this forum regularly, IGNORE these people! Help people like me who could use it (I had a post URL here, but I didn't want to look like I was trying desperately to get help). Actually, don't. I've already pretty much figured that one out myself, as per usual when I get blown off. It just would have been much easier with a little help from someone who knows this stuff better th an I do. And it's not getting snubbed that bothers me; what bothers me is that instead of helping the likes of myself you are here wasting time accomplishing ABSOLUTELY nothing. I get the feeling that people post this crap not necessarily because they hate linux, but rather because they know they can set off a firestorm if they say these kinds of things. You could stop that. Make it 0 replies on this nonsense and some help for those of us who could use it. I wish I didn't need to waste time myself putting my two cents in but I thought it just had to be done.