Common Linux Programs

[Dave Smith]

Shane Hathaway wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>> Jason Holt wrote:
>>> t is for true, which does very little
>>
>> But at least it does it successfully, which is more than we can say 
>> for false.
>
> The man page for "false" presents an interesting logic puzzle.  The 
> intent of the false command is to "do nothing, unsuccessfully", which 
> I understand in natural language, but it must be a mess to a logician. 
> There is no success nor failure if nothing happens.  If I don't play a 
> game, and instead do nothing, I have neither won nor lost that game.  
> So nothing can fit that interpretation of "do nothing, 
> unsuccessfully", regardless of what the documentation might claim.

It's pretty simple, actually:

false.c:

  int main()
  {
    return 1;
  }

true.c:

  int main()
  {
    return 0;
  }


The man pages were just being playful.

--Dave