# cat (Unix command)

11 Hacker News commenters recommended cat (Unix command) and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Standard Unix tool that prints files and fits cleanly into pipelines, so people reuse it in many workflows. Critics say it is often superfluous and can merge lines unexpectedly.

## Why people recommend it

- Composes well in pipelines (3 comments): "it's more composable: it defines the input to the pipeline without committing to a specific tool" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48954451)) "these often make the pipe easier to grasp because the first step is always the same" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46044030)) "cat is very helpful because it fits into pipelines like every other command" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48955053))
- Long-established, standard Unix tool (2 comments): "well established and solid unix toolchain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48859511)) "cat has been doing this since 1971." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46878926))
- Quick view of file contents (2 comments): "Sometimes I want to see what I'm looking at and then (using that dump as a reference) follow up with a corresponding filter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48954861)) ""cat" is a better option if it's more than one page long or you just want to eyeball a fragment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48958131))

## What people warn about

- Often unnecessary; other tools suffice (2 comments): "No reason for an editor or cat" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48954576)) ""cat" is superfluous anyway." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48955237))
- Can merge lines unexpectedly (2 comments): "The merging of the first file's last line with the second file's first line is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50177959)) "produces something that is obviously not what the user wanted" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50155800))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [fzf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fzf.md): 78 recommend
- [jq](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jq.md): 75 recommend
- [grep](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grep.md): 65 recommend
- [Atuin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atuin.md): 63 recommend
- [GitHub CLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/github-cli.md): 49 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "cat (Unix command)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/cat/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).