/ln2

A drop-in replacement for `ln` that uses an intuitive, memorable syntax

Primary LanguageShellMIT LicenseMIT

ln2

ln2 is a drop-in replacement for ln that uses an intuitive, memorable syntax to make links between files.

Example

$ ln2 -s $HOME/new_link \> $PWD/target_file

Explanation

Problem

I can never remember the correct argument order for the ln command. Call me what you will, but I'm not the only one who's confused [1] [2]. I've thought long and hard about why I have this particular mental block and I've come to the conclusion that I simply want to specify the arguments in the opposite order of what's required. Maybe that's because whenever I want to inspect a link (using ls -l), it's shown like this:

$ ls -l some_link
lrwxrwxrwx 2 msalvatore msalvatore 1 Jun  6 12:33 some_link -> real_file

That output makes a lot of sense. I think of links as files that point to other files; the output of ls is consistent with my mental model of what a link is. Intuitively, I want to specify the creation of links in the same way that I inspect them (and understand them), and there is no mnemonic or memory device that will change that .

To make matters worse, the man pages add more confusion.

LN(1)                            User Commands                           LN(1)

NAME
       ln - make links between files

SYNOPSIS
       ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME

"That seems pretty clear", I hear you say. I agree. The thing is that this is the man page for GNU ln, which is what you get on Linux. Sometimes I use FreeBSD or MacOS, and that man page looks like this:

LN(1)                   FreeBSD General Commands Manual                  LN(1)

NAME
     ln, link – link files

SYNOPSIS
     ln [-L | -P | -s [-F]] [-f | -iw] [-hnv] source_file [target_file]

What?!?! For BSD ln the arguments are specified in the opposite order than for GNU ln? Well, no, but you could be forgiven for thinking so. It's just that in the BSD and the GNU man pages, the word "target" has opposite meanings.

There has to be a better way.

Solution

Introducing ln2, a drop-in replacement for ln that uses an intuitive, memorable syntax for the creation of links.

Example

$ ln2 -s $HOME/new_link \> $PWD/target_file

Wow, that's unambiguous! Just like the output of the ls command, ln2 allows you think in terms of a link that "points to" a target file. If you prefer the original argument ordering, ln2 can accommodate your preference:

Example

$ ln2 -s $PWD/target_file \< $HOME/new_link

You no longer need to try to remember the correct order; an operator is used to clearly indicate where a link should point. Confusing man pages with overloaded terms are no longer a problem, either.

NOTE: The > and < operators must be escaped with a backslash (\), otherwise the shell will interpret your command to mean the output of ln2 should be redirected to a file.

Installation

  1. Copy the ln2 script somewhere in your PATH. /usr/local/bin is the recommended location installation location.

    sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/ln2 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mssalvatore/ln2/main/ln2

  2. Make ln2 executable.

    sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/ln2

  3. Optionally, if you'd like to replace ln with ln2, create an alias:

    echo "alias ln=ln2 >> $HOME/.bashrc"

    You'll need to close and reopen your shell for this to take effect.

    To use the original ln command without disabling your alias, you can invoke it using a backslash:

    $ \ln ...

Usage

$ln2 -h

Make links between files using an intuitive, memorable syntax.

Usage: ln2 [OPTION]... LINK_NAME \> TARGET
  or:  ln2 [OPTION]... TARGET \< LINK_NAME

       See LN(1) for a description of the available options.