cat (Unix command)
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 31 of 86 privilege escalation tools by recommenders
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.
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.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Composes well in pipelines
“it's more composable: it defines the input to the pipeline without committing to a specific tool”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats” “these often make the pipe easier to grasp because the first step is always the same”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Why I (Still) Love Linux ?” “cat is very helpful because it fits into pipelines like every other command”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats” Long-established, standard Unix tool
“well established and solid unix toolchain”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Good Tools Are Invisible” “cat has been doing this since 1971.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Xcode 26.3 unlocks the power of agentic coding” Quick view of file contents
“Sometimes I want to see what I'm looking at and then (using that dump as a reference) follow up with a corresponding filter”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats” “"cat" is a better option if it's more than one page long or you just want to eyeball a fragment”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Often unnecessary; other tools suffice
“No reason for an editor or cat”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats” “"cat" is superfluous anyway.”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “PSA about abuse of cat(1) command. Don't abuse cats” Can merge lines unexpectedly
“The merging of the first file's last line with the second file's first line is.”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Wine ported to OpenBSD” “produces something that is obviously not what the user wanted”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Wine ported to OpenBSD”
Other privilege escalation tools people recommend
The four most recommended other privilege escalation tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 86 privilege escalation tools, rankedWhat people said
13 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The merging of the first file's last line with the second file's first line is.”
“produces something that is obviously not what the user wanted”
“"cat" is a better option if it's more than one page long or you just want to eyeball a fragment”
“"cat" is superfluous anyway.”
“cat is very helpful because it fits into pipelines like every other command”
“Sometimes I want to see what I'm looking at and then (using that dump as a reference) follow up with a corresponding filter”
“No reason for an editor or cat”
“it's more composable: it defines the input to the pipeline without committing to a specific tool”
“well established and solid unix toolchain”
“`cat /dev/sda > /mnt/myDisk2` is so much safer, explicit, and in unix norms”
“cat has been doing this since 1971.”
“So cat, ripgrep, etc are the right tools for them.”
“these often make the pipe easier to grasp because the first step is always the same”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.