NAME
yes —
continually output arguments
SYNOPSIS
yes |
[string]… |
DESCRIPTION
Repeatedly writes each string (default "y"), separated by a single space (" "), followed by a newline, to the standard output.
EXIT STATUS
1 and a diagnostic is issued if a write error occurred. Does not exit normally.
HISTORY
Appeared, fully formed, in 4BSD as "be repetitively affirmative":
yes [ expletive ]
And is described in the changelog as "A new command, which is excessively
obsequious.".
An equivalent implementation appears in AT&T System V Release 4 UNIX.
Multiple strings are an extension, originating from the GNU system.
The GNU system ignores the first --
string, regardless of position.