Thread: Ed Mastery
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Old 5th October 2019
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I haven't read the book, but I've become a big fan of ed for the simple fact that it's included in the OpenBSD base system and that it allows you to perform scripted file edits. I wasn't aware that you can do that until I came across this blog post by solene@ which pointed me in the right direction:
https://dataswamp.org/~solene/2018-1...n-diff-ed.html
Since then ed has become my favourite system administration tool. I make heavy use of it in my now 2500 line long /install.site

Quote:
Let's look at a typical novice's session with the mighty ed:

golem$ ed

?
help
?
?
?
quit
?
exit
?
bye
?
hello?
?
eat flaming death
?
^C
?
^C
?
^D
?

---

Note the consistent user interface and error reportage. Ed is generous enough to flag errors, yet prudent enough not to overwhelm the novice with verbosity.
https://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/ed-msg.html
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