[chrisfinazzo]

I would be remiss if I did not point out that calling said program cat is a misnomer. Instead of 'string together in a series' (the actual dictionary definition, which coincidentally, pipes actually do) it quickly became 'print whatever I type to the screen.'

Of course, the example @arendtio uses is correct, because they obviously care about such things.

[Sharlin]

Having separate commands for outputting the content of a single file and several files would, however, be an orthogonality violation. YMMV whether having a more descriptive name for the most common use of cat would be worth the drawback.

[chrisfinazzo]

It would fit in the broader methodology of 'single purpose tools that do their job well' or 'small pieces, loosely joined', but yes, probably too annoying to bother with.