Noob+naive: use cat because don’t know better.

Experienced+smart ass: use shell direction to distinguish oneself from noobs.

Older+wiser: use cat again because it flows left to right, isn’t bash specific like “<file foo”, doesnt special case examples with only one file as input, and allows something other than a file as input or lifting the body of the pipeline into a function without changing the text…

…but mostly because it doesn’t make one come across as a nit picking asshole to the expensive noobs you’ve just spent months trying to hire.

Specifically, it indicates some combination of:

1. isn't aware of processes/pipes

2. isn't aware of cat's "primary" functionality

3. isn't aware of shell input redirection

4. isn't aware that shell input redirection can be put before the command

I still instinctively start my pipelines with cat half the time, but now I have complicated feelings about it.

If by that you mean religiously avoiding cat at all cost, no. If by that you mean thinking about what you are actually doing on your commandline I say I do. Which makes me realize that yes, cat is more often than not redundant unless you are actually outputting the concatenation of multiple files.

We had just gotten over tabs vs spaces after barely a thousand years of noticing the other side is objectively wrong.

Something new that you're definitely doing wrong to blog and argue and bicker about; it can't be helped!