mechanical_jane

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

This gives an (artificial) example of the power of GNU Parallel over xargs: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/405552/using-xargs-...

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

> This would break a cron-job as well.

How so? GNU Parallel only outputs the notice if stderr is a terminal. I think you did not try this. Am I right about that?

It is litteraly the 3rd point in https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/parallel.git/tree/doc/cita...

Did you try any of the other situations? Or are you simply speculating that this might cause problems without actually testing?

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

If it is as easy to silence as GNU Parallel and tells you how to do it (like GNU Parallel also does), I do not see a problem.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Some of the alternatives to GNU Parallel are written in Go: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_alternatives....

Speed wise they are comparable to GNU Parallel. So the argument for Rust could be speed.

The argument against Rust could be backwards compatibility: How would you do the {= perl expr =} thing? Will it run on the current targets (CentOS 3.9 according to https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_design.html#O...)? Will it run on systems for which you as a consultant do not have access to a Rust compiler for?

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

I think your example is wrong:

$ seq 0 5 100000 | parallel touch {}.txt

Or you you really want the infinite loop:

$ yes | parallel touch '{= $_=seq()*5 =}'.txt

'$' must be quoted

$ loop --count-by 5 -- touch '$'COUNT.txt

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Why not save some quoting:

  parallel --slf input_file_here -j16 --nonall echo 'Matrix has you'

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Why not simply do as GNU Parallel suggests in the message:

Run 'parallel --citation' ONCE and have the notice silenced.

I never understood the complaint: Is it because people do not _read_ the message?

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Does that also apply to platforms where you as a consultant for hire does not have access to a C compiler for that given platform?

It used to be an issue that non-free UNIXes did not include a C-compiler by default, and then C would really not help. I am not sure if that is the case anymore.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Yeah, quoting redirection is a bitch, but as long as you know GNU Parallel is just a program and not part of the shell, you can usually deduct which parts will be interpreted by the shell before GNU Parallel gets it.

I often create bash functions to avoid that shit, and then call the bash functions from GNU Parallel instead.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Comparison to GNU Parallel's syntax: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_alternatives....

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

It would require your input not to have any special shell chars - e.g. no space.

It is definitely not something I would dare to run in production.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Maybe the cheat sheet is made for you: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_cheat.pdf

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

But looking at the comparison, do you really find GNU Parallel that much harder to understand?

  parallel sh -c "echo hi; sleep 2; echo bye" -- 1 2 3

    parallel echo hi";" sleep 2";" echo bye ::: 1 2 3

  parallel -j 3 ufraw -o processed -- *.NEF

    parallel -j 3 ufraw -o processed ::: *.NEF

  parallel -j 3 -- ls df "echo hi"

    parallel -j 3 ::: ls df "echo hi"

And if you are looking for the single page overview, why not link to the cheat sheet: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_cheat.pdf

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

I think the cheat sheet is made for you: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_cheat.pdf

If you have a hard time getting it to work and remember how, then it is likely that the fundamentals of GNU Parallel are not clear to you. Chapter 2 ("Learn GNU Parallel in 15 minutes") of the book should take care of that.

> a better interface

That is often a tough one. I, for one, like emacs' interface. Others despise it. So when you write 'better interface' I think it will be helpful if you were more specific.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

I like the definition that Big Data starts at the capacity of the biggest single hardddrive you can buy. So this year it is 14 TB.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

If you are just looking for an alternative, GNU Parallel publishes a list of alternatives: https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_alternatives....

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

We probably have to agree to disagree on that one:

I see loads of commercials for buying iPhones. I do not see a lot of commercials for citing GNU Parallel.

If I have to make a citation, it will cost me no money, but one line of text if I write an article. If I have to buy an iPhone, it will cost me many hours of work.

To me the two things are not even close to be similar.

But I can find one similar aspect: No one forces you to use an iPhone.

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

I am trying to understand your take. Do you also call Firefox nagware, when it pops up with a dialog box where you can click "Don't show this again"?

To me the dialog box is actually worse, because the program often blocks until you close the dialog box (not 100% sure if that is the case with Firefox).

With GNU Parallel you run 'parallel --citation' once, and you are done. We are talking an effort of 15 seconds or less.

When I install a library I often have to run the install command and it often takes longer than 15 seconds.

Finally, I would like to understand why you do not just use another utility? Would that not solve your issue?

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

Isn't that explained in the link in the very first question?

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/parallel/2013-11/msg00006...

mechanical_jane

vor 7 Jahrendiscuss

I enjoy following your thought process. I cannot make that fit with the content of the FAQ:

"In other words: It is preferable having fewer users, who all know they should cite, over having many users, who do not know they should cite.

If the goal had been to get more users, then the license would have been public domain.

...

The citation notice is about (indirect) funding - nothing else."

Does that fit with your assumption that "the GNU Parallel author(s) want/wants people to use and contribute to it"?

mechanical_jane

Submissions

10 years of GNU Parallel: GNU Parallel 20200422 ('10years') released [stable]

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