$ ln
usage: ln [-Ffhinsv] source_file [target_file]
ln [-Ffhinsv] source_file ... target_dir
my_link --> real_directory
$ ln real_directory my_link
My brain thinks it breaks the idiom of `[cmd] [from] [to]` that cp, mv, etc use. You wouldn't say the example above is a link from real_dir to my_link, you'd say the opposite (and that's what the cli shows when you ls a link).
Also, in sections 1 and 8 (shell), data typically flows from left-to-right across the line. The filename on the left flows into the link on the right. Data flows from the left of the pipe to the right.
Whereas in section 3 (C), data typically flows from right-to-left across the line. Variable assignment, memcpy, ...
There are of course exceptions (dup2, bcopy), but that's the general style for the order of arguments in *nix.
I have to look up ln every time.
* Description of "ln" is more general
* "Tape ARchive" is now described correctly
* No longer uses the arguments in "dash-less" mode
What is it exactly called?
Do you have any examples of modern utilities using a dash-less syntax?
- TFA says that `ln` is "used to create symbolic links, among other things"; I'd drop "symbolic"--that is needlessly restricting what it does. It just creates filesystem links; hard or soft.
- TFA says, "tar is actually short for TApe aRchive". The "a" should belong to "archive" ("Tape ARchive"); this is because of it's relation to the older `ar` ("ARchive") command.[^1]
- TFA says, "the filename is actually part of the f flag, and therefore must directly follow it." That's actually not the case for the "dash-less" form of tar invocation; all of the flags go in one string, and then the arguments follow in the same order, rather than right after the associated flag. For example, if I wanted to specify both the "f" and "C" flags, it (c|w)ould be something like `tar cfC argument-to-f argument-to-C`. That said, modern tars also support `tar -c -f argument-to-f -C argument-to-C`.
As TFA says, this isn't inherently wrong, it's just different than everything else (I know of no other command that uses that flag syntax[^2]). Understand that it predates the standard convention that everything else follows.
[^1]: Today ar is pretty much only used for creating .a files containing library objects for static linking. It may be noteworthy that the argument order of ar is ALSO "archive-name members..." despite archive-name NOT being an argument to an "-f"-like flag.
[^2]: Actually, come to think of it, `ps` might take that syntax, depending on your system.