Bash (Unix shell)
GNU replacement for the Bourne shell / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bash, short for Bourne-Again SHell, is a shell program and command language supported by the Free Software Foundation[15][16] and first developed for the GNU Project by Brian Fox.[17] Designed as a 100% free software alternative for the Bourne shell,[18][19] it was initially released in 1989.[20] Its moniker is a play on words, referencing both its predecessor, the Bourne shell,[21] and the concept of renewal.[22][23]
Original author(s) | Brian Fox |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Chet Ramey[1][2] |
Initial release | June 8, 1989; 34 years ago (1989-06-08) |
Stable release | |
Repository | |
Written in | C |
Operating system | |
Platform | GNU |
Available in | Multilingual (gettext) |
Type | Unix shell, command language |
License | Since 4.0: GPL-3.0-or-later[10] 1.11? to 3.2: GPL-2.0-or-later[11] 0.99? to 1.05?: GPL-1.0-or-later[12][13][14] |
Website | www |
Since its inception, Bash has gained widespread adoption and is commonly used as the default login shell for numerous Linux distributions. It holds historical significance as one of the earliest programs ported to Linux by Linus Torvalds, alongside GCC (GNU Compiler Collection).[24] It is available on nearly all modern operating systems, making it a versatile tool in various computing environments.
As a command processor, Bash operates within a text window where users input commands to execute various tasks. It also supports the execution of commands from files, known as shell scripts, facilitating automation. In keeping with Unix shell conventions, Bash incorporates a rich set of features. The keywords, syntax, dynamically scoped variables and other basic features of the language are all copied from sh. Other features, e.g., history, are copied from csh and ksh. Bash is a POSIX-compliant shell, but with a number of extensions.