echo command always prints its arguments
Scott Orshan
sdo at u1100a.UUCP
Thu Apr 4 00:30:34 AEST 1985
In article <797 at u1100a.UUCP> I wrote:
>On every UNIX system I have ever used, there is no way to prevent
>the echo command from printing its arguments. I would like to
>propose a "-q" option to echo which tells it to be quiet and go about
>its work without printing its arguments.
>--
>
> Scott Orshan
OK. I've gotten enough replies. April Fool. Most people
realized this and answered in the spirit of the day. However,
I don't blame those who took it seriously - it resembles many
of the legitimate articles posted here. It's also a take-off
on "cat -v"
Most of the answers said to use "echo arg ... >/dev/null"
A better answer (since it doesn't involve opening /dev/null)
was "echo '\c' arg ..." (In the USG echo, \c is used as "-n" is
used in BSD).
--
Scott Orshan
Bell Communications Research
201-981-3064
{ihnp4,allegra,bellcore,pyuxww}!u1100a!sdo
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