6 ms·

> I’m using Linux shell on daily basis, but I often forgot some useful command or shell tip. I hate to be overly pedantic, but what shell would that be? There

by weland 13y ago

> I’m using Linux shell on daily basis, but I often forgot some useful command or shell tip. I hate to be overly pedantic, but what shell would that be? There is no such thing as the Linux shell.

emilw 13y ago
I don't think your being overly pedantic. The differences between sh/bash/csh/tcsh/ksh/zsh alone are enough to make your head spin.
dredmorbius 13y ago
Well, the default Linux shell is /bin/bash on most systems. I'd say more about the article itself and what it should and/or does say on this, but at present, I suspect the author is looking up "Webserver and Database Scalability and Availability Tips & Tricks": "Error establishing a database connection"
- profquail 13y ago
  A number of Linux distributions have moved to the BSD-licensed dash[1] for running their system initialization scripts, as it's noticeably faster than bash (resulting in faster boot times). Ubuntu made this change back in 2006 [2][3], and Debian switched to dash for Debian Squeeze. Bash is still the default user shell on those systems, though. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_Almquist_shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_Almquist_shell [2]: http://lwn.net/Articles/343924/ http://lwn.net/Articles/343924/ [3]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh
- weland 13y ago
  I'm well-aware that bash is a (if not the) popular choice on desktops and servers, but my terse and somewhat snarky answer was motivated by two other factors: 1. Not only do distributions like Debian or Ubuntu use dash, but various other shells are becoming more relevant to programmers due to their inclusion in special-purpose systems, such as devices running with a Busybox-userspace (which includes pretty much every Android phone, for instance). 2. If the article claims to have any educative value, it should definitely mention that this is something about a particular shell. Assuming the author isn't lying about his use of nix systems (since the diversity of shells is common knowledge to anyone seriously using Unices), the other logical choice is that saying bash instead of Linux isn't as cool in terms of SEO. The WWW is cluttered enough with every marketing drone hiring cheap labour on freelancer.com to fill it with bad spinoffs just to promote their semi-scam business, making any kind of legitimate information so hard to find you'd think it's 1998 again for some topics; it itches me on a personal* level when I see programmers doing that. We should know better.
  - dredmorbius 13y ago
    Debian uses dash as the default system (that is: scripting) shell, and what you'll typically find /bin/sh symlinked to (OpenBSD don't truck such nonsense and gives you statically-linked Bourne when you ask for sh, and there's a pretty good argument for why that should be). I actually got in the habit of writing bash (not sh) scripts some time back. My understanding is that the article was referring to commandline tricks, which would generally indicate bash. Defaults do have their use, though from what I saw of the article it was hardly rigorous enough to even note what defaults it was referring to. Agreed with you on the quantity of low-quality information out there. Google seems to be badly losing its edge in winnowing wheat from chaff (as does HN).

by weland 13y ago

> I’m using Linux shell on daily basis, but I often forgot some useful command or shell tip. I hate to be overly pedantic, but what shell would that be? There is no such thing as the Linux shell.

emilw 13y ago

I don't think your being overly pedantic. The differences between sh/bash/csh/tcsh/ksh/zsh alone are enough to make your head spin.

dredmorbius 13y ago

Well, the default Linux shell is /bin/bash on most systems. I'd say more about the article itself and what it should and/or does say on this, but at present, I suspect the author is looking up "Webserver and Database Scalability and Availability Tips & Tricks": "Error establishing a database connection"

profquail 13y ago
A number of Linux distributions have moved to the BSD-licensed dash[1] for running their system initialization scripts, as it's noticeably faster than bash (resulting in faster boot times). Ubuntu made this change back in 2006 [2][3], and Debian switched to dash for Debian Squeeze. Bash is still the default user shell on those systems, though. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_Almquist_shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_Almquist_shell [2]: http://lwn.net/Articles/343924/ http://lwn.net/Articles/343924/ [3]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh
weland 13y ago
I'm well-aware that bash is a (if not the) popular choice on desktops and servers, but my terse and somewhat snarky answer was motivated by two other factors: 1. Not only do distributions like Debian or Ubuntu use dash, but various other shells are becoming more relevant to programmers due to their inclusion in special-purpose systems, such as devices running with a Busybox-userspace (which includes pretty much every Android phone, for instance). 2. If the article claims to have any educative value, it should definitely mention that this is something about a particular shell. Assuming the author isn't lying about his use of nix systems (since the diversity of shells is common knowledge to anyone seriously using Unices), the other logical choice is that saying bash instead of Linux isn't as cool in terms of SEO. The WWW is cluttered enough with every marketing drone hiring cheap labour on freelancer.com to fill it with bad spinoffs just to promote their semi-scam business, making any kind of legitimate information so hard to find you'd think it's 1998 again for some topics; it itches me on a personal* level when I see programmers doing that. We should know better.
- dredmorbius 13y ago
  Debian uses dash as the default system (that is: scripting) shell, and what you'll typically find /bin/sh symlinked to (OpenBSD don't truck such nonsense and gives you statically-linked Bourne when you ask for sh, and there's a pretty good argument for why that should be). I actually got in the habit of writing bash (not sh) scripts some time back. My understanding is that the article was referring to commandline tricks, which would generally indicate bash. Defaults do have their use, though from what I saw of the article it was hardly rigorous enough to even note what defaults it was referring to. Agreed with you on the quantity of low-quality information out there. Google seems to be badly losing its edge in winnowing wheat from chaff (as does HN).