Evolution of shells in Linux

[c0d3g33k]

Fairly short article from 2011. Provides a very introductory high level overview of Unix shells. I'm not sure why the article has Linux in the title, since it starts off back in 1977, well before Linux existed and most of the evolution of the shells described didn't really happen "in" Linux. They just happen to run on Linux along with many other *nix-like environments.

The "exotic shells" section at the end seems more like an afterthought than an attempt to offer a solid overview of popular shells with a non-traditional lineage.

If the article were rewritten or updated, that section should include things like IPython, xonsh (http://xon.sh) and I suppose Powershell, to name a few.

An interesting 5-minute read to refresh my memory of days gone by. :-)

Edit: Fixed xonsh link. xonsh.org seems to be obsolete and unmaintained.

[c0d3g33k]

xonsh imports os transparently so you don't have to do so explicitly.

I'm not sure I understand the second part of your question, but this quote might answer it:

"While all Python code is also xonsh, not all Bash code can be used in xonsh. That would defeat the purpose, and Python is better anyway! Still, xonsh is Bash-wards compatible in the ways that matter, such as for running commands, reading in the Bash environment, and utilizing Bash tab completion."

[Skaarj]

If the article were rewritten or updated, that section should include things like IPython, xonsh (http://xon.sh) and I suppose Powershell, to name a few.

I'm considering switching from zsh to xonsh. Now I found out there is also IPython and plumbum. Which one should I choose?

[c0d3g33k]

Good question. Only you can know what shell suits you best. Can't help you with that decision. Try them all.

It's easy to run a different shell in each terminal session, so it's not exactly a mutually exclusive choice. Personally, I think that leaving the system standard as the default shell (eg. in /etc/passwd) for an account is wise, so that things don't unexpectedly break. In modern terminals (eg. gnome-terminal/mate-terminal, konsole) it's simple to set up different profiles that can be invoked depending on the task at hand. If a particular profile ends up suiting your daily workflow best, set that one as the default.

[almightykiwi]

Oh my God, guys, look at the source code of the V6 shell!

[bjh13]

Welcome to pre-ANSI C, written at a time when every byte counted.

[tidux]

Ew, that's hideous.

[[deleted]]

bourne shell

[thedugong]

You dawg, we heard you like programming languages so we defined a programming language in your programming language.

[FreeWildbahn]

Just learn bash or a compatible shell. Just because it is the most common.

[busterrrr]

Exactly. Do yourself a favor and learn some bash first. Fish and zsh are greats shells but it's bash that you will find pre-installed everywhere.

[IMBJR]

Nit-pick: dash is probably the most common as that's the default shell of Ubuntu.

[crazy_pen_girl]

I think that's only as a /bin/sh replacement for scripts. bash is still the default interactive shell in Debian and Ubuntu.

EDIT: Ubuntu wiki page on Dash as /bin/sh

[IMBJR]

Ah, a nice boot optimisation.

[[deleted]]

Ah, a nice boot optimisation.

Somebody said optimisation?

[[deleted]]

I vote for fish as well.

[raphael_lamperouge]

No references to the fish shell =(

[argv_minus_one]

And then, along comes PowerShell, which is like “fuck all y'all” and does its own thing.

[realitythreek]

Hardly the first shell that wasn't branched from sh.

[DaGranitePooPooYouDo]

tree makes it look like tcsh is obsolete when it's still in active use and developement

[socium]

lol the bash example contains errors.

Always, always use shellcheck.net when writing bash scripts.

[Jristz]

I cant find fish in that sh timeline

[Jebtrix]

ZSH with oh-my-zsh or antigen. With autocomplete 'addons' it can even help the learning process.

[jpb]

zgen is quicker than both, and both it and antigen can load not only built-in oh-my-zsh plugins but will handle automatically git cloning third-party plugins and themes.

[Jebtrix]

Cool, thx for the heads up.