Re: bash me, if you like

[Richard Coleman <richardcoleman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

evs wrote:
> I don't want to start a jihad here but, imho DragonFly should switch
> to bash as the default shell. 
>
> I know csh ( and consequently its descendents tcsh & zsh ) is
> Berkeley's baby but, bash can do everything csh can do and its better
> for shell programming. Most new unix users arrive from the Linux camp
> these days so they already know bash and they will be more likely to
> try DragonFly if they don't have ot learn a new shell. Even Apple has
> switched to bash for OS X.
>
> Bash has won, and it's only a matter of time before csh goes the way
> of the dodo. Since Dragonfly is taking the lead in so many other
> areas, we might as well bite the bullet and do this too, as soon as
> possible.

In the beginning, zsh was actually based on ksh with features added to 
make csh users more comfortable.  These days, it's a kitchen sink of 
features and can emulate most of the other common shells.  Although it's 
been awhile, I was one of the primary maintainers for zsh for several years.

But I have to laugh at your comment at saying "bash has won".  That's 
like saying "vi has beaten emacs or vice versa".  Just because most 
Linux systems use bash as the default doesn't mean the others are going 
away any time soon.  Shells and editors are such a personal choice.

Besides, it's easy to change the shell you are using.  And these days, 
it's pretty harmless to change the shell for root (contrary to old 
traditional advice).  As long as people can change it to what they want, 
the default is irrelevant.

Richard Coleman
richardcoleman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx