Hi all,

I have just installed SuSE 7.2 Linux with a view to using it as a test platform for my shell scripts which would run on a production HP-UX box.

Unfortunately I have only now discovered the porting issues relating to UNIX shell scripts.

In order to try and get the things working I have been trying to use a Bourne Shell (something I read somewhere suggested this was the most portable- plus this is what is used on the HP-UX box where the scripts were originally devised).

Unfortunately the /bin/sh entry looks like this:

/bin/sh -> /bin/bash

What does this mean??? From my C I guess this indicates that /bin/sh is just a pointer to /bin/bash? Is that right?

I read somewhere else that the /bin/ash shell is a 'Linux substitute' for the Bourne shell, but setting #! /bin/ash at the start of my shell script gives a 'file not found' error??

Any hints or tips??

TIA
James.

never heard of ash...

but otherwise when you see /bin/sh->/bin/bash that's a symlink to the file /bin/bash....so yeah, conceptually its like a pointer..when you run /bin/sh, you're actually running /bin/bash instead.

IIRC Bash stands for Bourne Again SHell...so I'm figuring THAT'S a bourne shell subsitute/enhancement in linux...

Is it installed? Do you have a ash located in /bin ? Most likely by the error you don't have the ash shell installed.

When /bin/bash is called as /bin/sh, it runs in kind of a compatibility mode, which basically emulates bourne

Secondly, ash is a seperate shell that you can install. If it says file not found, you obviously don't have it installed.

EDIT: Also, I think it should be #!/bin/ash and not #! /bin/ash. Spaces can make big differences. Even if it does work, I have yet to see a script where they put a space in it.