[getopt-sig] Separation of mechanics from semantics

[Patrick Callahan]

Greg wrote:
> Bottom line, if you want to create a botched UI like "tar", you're free
> to do so -- but you'll have to implement your own argument parser.  I
> suspect Russ' model would make more sense in that context.
>
>         Greg

Hmm.  Tar is botched....  Could we learn anything from an attempt to 
"redesign" tar's user interface?  Things are the way they are sometimes for 
reasons we can't see. Or sometimes its just botched.  Either way, I'm 
interested enough to discuss the fine points if you're up to it?

When you say botched, are you referring to the "required" option 
The first argument to tar must
       be one of the options: Acdrtux, followed by  any  optional
       functions.
or some other aspect of it?

The tar utility has a lot of capabilities built into a single utility is that 
the source of the complexity?  Should tar have been split into multiple 
commands?

I've no particular axe to grind on tar itself, but I'm really interested in 
your thought process on command line interfaces.

-Pat