Long filenames in DOS/Windows and Unix/Linux (Was: Piping to stdin)

In article <ubg8a8$2t20l$1@dont-email.me>,  <Muttley@dastardlyhq.com> wrote:

On Tue, 15 Aug 2023 16:12:19 -0000 (UTC)
kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) wrote:

Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:

But do they know that???

>
"They" probably don't know it. But let's face it,
nobody really wants to create a file having '-'
filename on purpose. The filename is not descriptive
at all, it would be just an insane choice for anything
useful.

>
I used to think the same thing about spaces in filenames. Then along came
Windows.
>

(I happened to be re-reading this 1 year old thread, so thought I'd add a
post to it)

Two comments about spaces in filenames (and Windows vs. Unix):

    1) Windows is actually quite a bit more restrictive about characters in
filenames than Unix.  Which is a good thing.  I've always thought
the "anything other than NUL and /" in Unix was a bad thing and
encouraged all manner of bad/malicious outcomes.  Yet, there are
people (and I use the term loosely) who think otherwise.

    2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the end-user
POV (but see below).  Yes, it makes things hard for us on the admin
side of the game.  I have always thought that the right answer is
to have both - a short name that is usable for the admin side of
the game and a long label that the user can work with.  There are
two solutions of this nature that I like:
    a) The "Extend a name" idea.  Where you have short names at the
filesystem level, but then have a database linked to that
that allows the user to think that long, descriptive
filenames are supported.

A long long time ago, there was a DOS product called
"Extend a name" that did this.  Also, 4DOS (and later
versions) does this.
    b) The way VFAT does it (and NTFS emulates) - where, for any
file with a long name, there is an 8.3 filename (usually
with weird characters in the filename) as well, and either
filename is usable by programs.  This is one place where I
think Windows really gets it right (and Unix could learn
from it).

--
He continues to assert that 2 plus 2 equals 4, despite being repeatedly
told otherwise.