DOS/Windows and slashes (was Re: Windows XP Pro and PossiblefilePro Bug)

[John Esak]

How annoying a convention.  Another instance of Not Invented Here.  :(
> I don't mind porting to MS in a functional sense.  Being asked to emulate
> a poor design decision that became a defacto convention is something that
> will rankle me a little, but I did it anyway.  If that's what they want,
> that's what they get.  It's just one of those "gotchas" to keep in mind
> when porting.
>

What makes the flavor of "convention" you like any more important (or better
design decisions) than those grown up around a DOS/Windows environment????
When, in fact, those -h or -- ones in particular are so much "newer" than
the /? which has been around since 1981 or 1982 as far as I can tell. For
you to put down something that arose long before your preferred likes and
dislikes as being something stupid to be rankled over... is a bit parochial.
Something that millions of users have come to use in "their" environment,
and you grouse about having to "do in Rome as the Romans do" because you are
used to something which developed in "your" environment so many years
later... well, c'mon, you have better things to grouse about, don't you?
:-)

John