Re: [bug-gnu-libiconv] Add -i inplace option for iconv.

[Bruno Haible]

Heikki Orsila wrote:
> so why not just create it for iconv tool like "sed -i" does?

As I said: it violates the Unix philosophy. Read about it in [1][2].

> So I thought of writing a suitable shell script that would use
> 
>       $(tempfile -d "$(dirname "$f")") || error_check
> 
> and realized everyone who needs this use-case is just doing redundant work,

That's true. The logic for creating a temp file is something needed
frequently in various places.

So why don't you create a program named, say, 'inplace', with the property
that

   inplace PROGRAM ARGUMENTS... FILE

does essentially (but with more correct placement and handling of
the temporary file and symlinks):

   mv FILE FILE'~' && PROGRAM ARGUMENTS... < FILE'~' > FILE && rm -f FILE'~'

Such a program would fit well with the Unix philosophy. You could even
propose it for inclusion in the 'coreutils'.

Bruno

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy
[2] https://homepage.cs.uri.edu/~thenry/resources/unix_art/ch01s06.html