lxsplit: A file splitter for like-minded people

GNU split is the gold standard for splitting standard files at the console, I will admit that. What I don’t like about GNU split though, is that its default behavior is a bit esoteric.

Maybe you don’t mind if your file, painstakingly named to suit a pattern of dates, sequences and hostnames, is mangled viciously and ends up as xaa, xab, xac and so forth. 👿

Yes, I know. This probably hearkens back to the Unix of the 1960s, and we all know how perfect they were. 🙄

Look, here’s what I want: a splitter that keeps the basename, and just tacks on a dot and a series of zero-padded numbers, to keep things in sequence. Is that so much to ask?

Well look at that. I guess someone out there had the same idea as me.

That’s lxsplit, if you haven’t read the title of this post yet. 🙄 Very small, very light, very quick and with sane defaults.

Now I know you’re going to tell me how to manage split to get those results. I am going to cut you off at the pass and tell you I know how to manage split. I can read its help message.

I’m just pining for something quicker … something less obtuse. I am allowed to do that, you know. 😐

P.S.: As you can see in the screenshot, lxsplit will rejoin files too.