Any shell started with a minus as the first character of argv[0] is a login shell e.g. "-bash" is a login shell. Many things start your shell this way: * th

Any shell started with a minus as the first character of argv[0] is a login shell e.g. "-bash" is a login shell. Many things start your shell this way: * the "login" command e.g. logging on an a virtual console * "su -" * "sshd" e.g. ssh <hostname> * xterms, depending on the settings e.g. the original xterm if you run "xterm -ls" or you run "xterm" with "xterm*loginShell: true" in your ".Xdefaults" or ".Xresources" * some X initialization scripts, e.g. when logging in to a "Default" session via gdm or kdm (how exactly this works depends on your distribution some explicitly source .profile instead) With "bash" you can also manually create a login shell using "bash -l" or "bash --login".