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  • This will fail with filenames containing newlines or tabs, so it's not very general. Pasting commands to a shell also feels somewhat iffy, given that there's also a proper solution (in your other answer). Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 20:12
  • Correct: as I said it's not a general solution, but it is a useful trick to have in one's tool belt. "Pasting commands" - did you mean "Piping commands"? If so, I disagree that it is iffy: it is actually much safer than a shell script, because I can look at the commands before I execute them. Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 20:16
  • yep, I meant piping like that. You'd need to be very careful to double check the commands, otherwise you might end up running commands from the filenames. Which would not happen with a shell script that does its job properly. Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 20:20
  • I find the trick valuable in "irregular" situations where a shell script is harder to write. If it's a one-off, why bother writing the script? You'd have to write it, test it, debug it and after all this trouble throw it away. Instead, I can write a file (or better yet write a script that writes the file) that contains exactly the commands I need and pipe it into the shell - and then throw it away. Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 20:26