@mansr As OP explained in the second post, it came up just because it came up. ( hachyderm.io/@simontatham/1168… )

I think conservative interface evolution is an important aspect, and I think reworking user interfaces to new requirements rather than building epicycles on top of
whatever we came up with in the past is important too.

I think on a modern Linux-based operating system, it's still possible to install both "ip" and "ifconfig" without conflict, and both will work, but there is no doubt that "ip" is the default in the modern environment.

Maybe the new interface is superior, but the point is that the change had a cost, the counterpoint being that legacy has a cost too. As with everything, it's a balance and a tradeoff.

@fanf @castaway @simontatham