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tar -xf is not really special combining short options isn’t uncommon.
Where tar is nonstandard is that you can leave out the -, tar xf is actually how POSIX specifies it. And we’ve kinda come full circle on that one with many modern utilities using a command syntax, you can read tar xf as “tar extract file” just as you can read git pull as, well, “git pull”.
If you want to see a standard command with truly non-standard syntax have a look at dd.
Tar is as old as IT, that’s why it’s syntax is a bit special.
tar -xfis not really special combining short options isn’t uncommon.Where tar is nonstandard is that you can leave out the
-,tar xfis actually how POSIX specifies it. And we’ve kinda come full circle on that one with many modern utilities using a command syntax, you can readtar xfas “tar extract file” just as you can readgit pullas, well, “git pull”.If you want to see a standard command with truly non-standard syntax have a look at
dd.Nono, dash-parameters are new in fancy GNU tar. And POSIX is not old.