Re: default pager (csh)

Kim Shrier <kim_at_westryn.net> wrote:
> > On Feb 18, 2015, at 4:41 PM, Xin Li <delphij_at_delphij.net> wrote:
> > 
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA512
> > 
> > On 02/18/15 15:18, Davide Italiano wrote:
> >> Hi, one of the first things I do when I install FreeBSD is to
> >> switch the default PAGER from more(1) to less(1). This is
> >> particularly convenient, e.g. while using git diff, to show
> >> something more readable. Just out of curiosity, is there a reason
> >> why more(1) is still the default, and/or is this just historical?
> > 
> > The _only_ reason that I can think of is that more(1) does not clear
> > screen for certain terminals (done with 'ti' and 'te' sequences),
> > while less(1) when running as less does.
> > 
> > The less(1) behavior can be annoying to some people (sometimes even
> > myself when using less to show contents of a file and ^Z to paste
> > them), and unfortunately quite a few of them also happen to be the
> > more vocal ones when it comes to a change.
> > 
> Being one of those people who strongly prefer using more, I vote
> against this change.  Also, it is easier to scroll back in a terminal
> window using more.  Every system I use, if it defaults the PAGER
> to less, I change it to more.

I think the defaults of both programs on FreeBSD are suboptimal.  I prefer
more with MORE=-eF, which fixes the man page issue mentioned earlier.

This is clearly a personal preference item; we won't get it "right" for
everyone.  However, anyone who can use git can definitely switch pagers.

Trivia: the version of more on BSD systems actually is derived from less,
not the original version of more.

		Mike