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doc: "to rip" means "fast"

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Answer the origin story of ripgrep's name.
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Andrew Gallant 2018-02-21 15:53:50 -05:00
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@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
* [How do I create a PowerShell profile?](#powershell-profile) * [How do I create a PowerShell profile?](#powershell-profile)
* [How do I pipe non-ASCII content to ripgrep on Windows?](#pipe-non-ascii-windows) * [How do I pipe non-ASCII content to ripgrep on Windows?](#pipe-non-ascii-windows)
* [Can ripgrep replace grep?](#posix4ever) * [Can ripgrep replace grep?](#posix4ever)
* [What does the "rip" in ripgrep mean?](#intentcountsforsomething)
<h3 name="config"> <h3 name="config">
@ -530,3 +531,39 @@ for the previous section apply.
* Is there a particular feature of grep you rely on that ripgrep either doesn't * 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 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. do it! If the latter, well, then, just use grep.
<h3 name="intentcountsforsomething">
What does the "rip" in ripgrep mean?
</h3>
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.