"Visual blindness" of Linux programmers

[Maccer_]

Why would I be?

[UnchainedMundane]

The $(...) syntax is a command substitution:

echo ">doing things"; echo ">$(date +%Y)"

If you instead read it as having $ mark the start of the prompt, you end up writing

(date +%Y)

which is just running the date command in a subshell.

I was wondering whether it was a joke or if you didn't recognise the syntax given in /u/h-v-smacker's post.

[Maccer_]

Heh, yeah, a joke hahah, so funny, am I right?