[ Replies set to netbsd-help ]

In message <v03110700b090b59d775f@[204.249.126.71]>, Brad Salai writes:
>
>tar -zxvfp bin.tar.gz   doesn't
>
>Once you know this, only the occasional tyop causes problems, but why does
>it have to be that way?

Because tar expects a filename to immediately follow the -f flag.  It
just makes sense. 

>As for ftp, mget is a nice idea, but it asks you to confirm that you still
>want  each file as it comes up. This makes it impossible to just get a
>collection of files, either by matching a pattern, or listing the files,
>without sitting there.

This is what the 'PROMPT' command is for.  Try it.