Command name alias: ast-grep and sg

[bodograumann]

The cli command name sg is already taken by a shadow tools command

NAME
sg - execute command as different group ID

Cf. https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow

It is installed by default in /usr/bin/sg at least on arch-linux.

Weirdly npm install -g @ast-grep/cli didn’t even install the cli in ~/.local/bin for me (I have prefix=~/.local configured for npm). Maybe that is also due to the name collision.

I actually like the pattern of .g for grep commands. Pitty that ag is already taken.
How about cg for code-grep?

[HerringtonDarkholme]

Renaming the command will involve rebranding which I would want to avoid.
However, I can add a tip in README for renaming the command.

[splitDEV]

Thank you for your awesome tool. I'm testing it right know and already liking it.
But I get the name clash on Linux as well. Always writing ~/.cargo/bin/sg is tedious. And changing PATH order (~/cargo/bin before /usr/bin) is not an option as it is really dangerous.

As the tool is relative new, I would strongly consider renaming it now. It hurts, sure, but renaming will get harder and harder in the future when it has gained more traction (which it will/has already).
Renaming it will always be a question/request and could become a necessity for wider adoption/less complaints.

Maybe seg or smg? Maybe just create a link to sg or create a second binary with a new name?

[cyrozap]

+1 to renaming the tool and re-branding sooner rather than later. Judging by the commit history, this project seems to be less than a year old, so changing the name now will be so, so much less painful than it will be to do so later. The original sg is at least 16 years old and seems to be required as part of the base system on Debian and Arch Linux (and possibly others as well, but I haven't checked), so it's only a matter of time until the name conflict starts causing problems for people.

Maybe it could be renamed to astg? Or maybe it could be called by the full name, ast-grep, and if users want a shorter name they could rename or symlink the binary or add a shell alias to whatever name they like.

[HerringtonDarkholme]

Good advice! I will try to ship two commands in the installation, one is sg and another is ast-grep.
This backward-compatible way should solve the pain point for Linux users!

[HerringtonDarkholme]

Thank you for your suggestion! ast-grep v5 now adds both ast-grep and sg as binary names!

[splitDEV]

This is awesome, thank you very much!