I guess my question is not more of a how to do something as it is why do it one way as apossed to another.

I am trying to reduce some typing at the command prompt by storing large commands in a smaller one. ex: alias off='shutdown -h now' etc. So I have read that you can use aliases for this sort of thing and I was planning on putting these aliases in the profile file that is global for all users.

Another way(the way I have done this before) I was planning on doing this is to put the following in the profile file ex: off='shutdown -h now' and then run this command at the bash prompt by typing the following $off.

Which way is the correct or most accepted way of doing things? If you can set shell variables to values(like I have done in the 3rd paragraph) why use alias? In what situation would you use a shell variable as opposed to an alias? Thanks.

All the linux and unix books I've read say they're for the purpose of not having to type long commands in.

But why would you use one method as opposed to another?

No idea.

you can quickly check any aliases with
alias, but if you throw those variables in with
all those export statements, they can be much harder
to find, besides that it is easier to type the command
without the $ in front.

use alias, that's what it's for.

Yes, alias is the method that was invented for this purpose. Setting environment variables is for handing information about the way your system is set up, or the state it is currently in, to running programs.

Speaking of aliases..

Where do you put your alias assignments?


For my root user I created a .bash_profile file and put

alias ls="ls --color"

So, far this is the only alias I have.

i use this one more than anything

alias c='cd ..;ls'

since i used dos for years before unix, i have a bunch
that match dos commands, like
alias dir='ls -l'
alias move='mv -i'
alias xcopy='cp -rv'

but i never need these anymore. i'm always typing
du, ls, rm and such in windows instead.

another possible use of them is to use ways
you commonly mistype things such as
sl='ls'
for me
fdsik for fdisk


i think the proper place for these is .bashrc

You can enable command spelling correction with a

set correction = cmd (correct commands only)
or
set correction = all (correct command and/or filenames)

if you use tcsh.

i've tried setting up tcsh and zsh before, but i never
could get either the way i liked.
That's a good idea though. I'm sure most newbies
don't know about most of the abilities of the different
shells.

ok, thats good to know, I will use alias for these commands. I am putting mine in /etc/profile so that they are global for all users.