[brlug-general] [SAGE] df breaks scripts

[Dustin Puryear]

But I think you're missing the point. Since days of yore, people have 
generally used 'df' with the assumption that it had sane output by 
default. ;)

Now whether that assumption was valid is another discussion. I would 
simply like to point out that you can infer that this was a COMMONLY 
held assumption by the MAJORITY of UNIX admins across all of UNIX-land 
simply by looking at any script ever written that uses 'df'.

I would be willing to wager that 99% of those scripts use 'df' in the 
way that I and others that have responded to this thread so far use it:

$ df | awk ...

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Derek J. Balling wrote:
> 
> On Feb 4, 2008, at 10:15 AM, Dustin Puryear wrote:
>> Yes, we can use -P to fix this, but how many scripts are out there 
>> that assume that.. oh, call me crazy.. that just a simple 'df' prints 
>> out output that can be properly awked?
>>
>> Anyone been bitten by this?
> 
> Yes, and that's why "-P" exists. Because people were bitten and while 
> the MAJORITY of "df" usage is "live humans", occasionally there's a need 
> to be machine-readable, so "-P" is at your beck and call for all 
> scripted applications. :-)
> 
> Cheers,
> D
>