"Sorry, I have to disagree."

Do you? What precisely are you disagreeing with? Please provide a full, verbatim quote of anything I wrote that you disagree with.

The facts:

• The OP asked how system could be used.
• I provided an example in answer to this.
• I followed this up with a further example contrasting system(...) (no capture of command output), with `...` (capture of command output possible), in accordance with the system documentation.

You seem to have concocted the idea that I recommended shelling out and, on the basis of that fictitious notion, decided that the appropriate action was to educate me.

My reference to TMTOWTDI, including a smiley, was simply a nod to the fact that other (better) ways were possible. I've no idea where your modified definition originated; I suggest you follow the link and read:

"This doesn’t mean that more ways are always better or that all possible paths are equally desirable ..."

There's certainly no reference to your:

"TMTOWTDI only covers this, if there is a good reason."

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