From 7098daf6a86d04e1eeb2d4d6bd4a66475e232860 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Andrew Gallant Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2018 15:53:50 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: "to rip" means "fast" Answer the origin story of ripgrep's name. --- FAQ.md | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 37 insertions(+) diff --git a/FAQ.md b/FAQ.md index 42f37851..37615fb0 100644 --- a/FAQ.md +++ b/FAQ.md @@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ * [How do I create a PowerShell profile?](#powershell-profile) * [How do I pipe non-ASCII content to ripgrep on Windows?](#pipe-non-ascii-windows) * [Can ripgrep replace grep?](#posix4ever) +* [What does the "rip" in ripgrep mean?](#intentcountsforsomething)

@@ -530,3 +531,39 @@ for the previous section apply. * Is there a particular feature of grep you rely on that ripgrep either doesn't have or never will have? If the former, file a bug report, maybe ripgrep can do it! If the latter, well, then, just use grep. + + +

+What does the "rip" in ripgrep mean? +

+ +When I first started writing ripgrep, I called it `rep`, intending it to be a +shorter variant of `grep`. Soon after, I renamed it to `xrep` since `rep` +wasn't obvious enough of a name for my taste. And also because adding `x` to +anything always makes it better, right? + +Before ripgrep's first public release, I decided that I didn't like `xrep`. I +thought it was slightly awkward to type, and despite my previous praise of the +letter `x`, I kind of thought it was pretty lame. Being someone who really +likes Rust, I wanted to call it "rustgrep" or maybe "rgrep" for short. But I +thought that was just as lame, and maybe a little too in-your-face. But I +wanted to continue using `r` so I could at least pretend Rust had something to +do with it. + +I spent a couple of days trying to think of very short words that began with +the letter `r` that were even somewhat related to the task of searching. I +don't remember how it popped into my head, but "rip" came up as something that +meant "fast," as in, "to rip through your text." The fact that RIP is also an +initialism for "Rest in Peace" (as in, "ripgrep kills grep") never really +dawned on me. Perhaps the coincidence is too striking, but I didn't realize it +until someone explicitly pointed it out to me after the initial public realize. +I admit that I found it mildly amusing, but if I had realized it myself before +the public release, I probably would have pressed on and chose a different +name. Alas, renaming things after a release is hard, so I decided to mush on. + +Given the fact that +[ripgrep never was, is or will be a 100% drop-in replacement for +grep](#posix4ever), +ripgrep is neither actually a "grep killer" nor was it ever intended to be. It +certainly does eat into some of its use cases, but that's nothing that other +tools like ack or The Silver Searcher weren't already doing.