why does "cut" print fields in original order?

[Les Mikesell]

Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
> 
>>> i understand that that's not indicated on the man page.  on the
>>> other hand, is there any reason that it *wasn't* done that way?
> 
>> You need  some reason to type:
>> sed -e 's/\(.*\):\(.*\):\(.*\):\(.*\):\(.*\):\(.*\):\(.*\)/\7:\1/'
> 
> you are a truly sick person, and should seek help.

But it says what you wanted fairly clearly and in much more re-usable 
terms that a minimalist tool like cut.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com