Bash (Unix shell)
| Original author(s) | Brian Fox |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Chet Ramey |
| Initial release | 8 June 1989 |
| Stable release | 5.3[1]
/ 3 July 2025 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | |
| Platform | GNU |
| Available in | Multilingual (gettext) |
| Type | Shell (computing), Unix shell, command language |
| License |
|
| Website | www |
In computing, Bash is an interactive command interpreter and programming language developed for Unix-like operating systems.[6][7] It is designed as a 100% free alternative for the Bourne shell, `sh`, and other proprietary Unix shells.[8] Bash has gained widespread adoption and is commonly used as the default login shell for numerous Linux distributions.[9]
Created in 1989 by Brian Fox for the GNU Project, it is supported by the Free Software Foundation.[10] Bash (short for "Bourne Again SHell") can operate within a terminal emulator, or text window, where users input commands to execute various tasks.[11][12] It also supports the execution of commands from files, known as shell scripts, facilitating automation.
The Bash command syntax is a superset of the Bourne shell, `sh`, command syntax, from which all basic features of the (Bash) syntax were copied. As a result, Bash can execute the vast majority of Bourne shell scripts without modification. Some other ideas were borrowed from the C shell, `csh`, and its successor `tcsh`, and the Korn Shell, `ksh`. It is available on nearly all modern operating systems, making it a versatile tool in various computing environments.
- ^ Chet Ramey (5 July 2025). "Bash-5.3-release available". Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^
"GNU Bash". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
Bash is free software, distributed under the terms of the [GNU] General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3 of the License (or any later version).
- ^
"bash-1.11". oldlinux.org. Archived from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
See test.c for GPL-2.0-or-later
- ^ "BashFAQ/061: Is there a list of which features were added to specific releases (versions) of Bash?". wooledge.org. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^
- "bash-1.05". oldlinux.org. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- "Is there a way to download the presumably initial bash source bash-0.99?". unix.stackexchange.com. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "operating system". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
- ^
"Bourne shell". ibm.com. IBM. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
The Bourne shell is an interactive command interpreter and command programming language.
- ^
- "GNU in a Nutshell". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
The ultimate goal is to provide free software to do all of the jobs computer users want to do—and thus make proprietary software a thing of the past.
- "Free Software Foundation — working together for free software — Front Page". fsf.org. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom.
- "GNU Software". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
GNU is an operating system which is 100% free software.
- "GNU in a Nutshell". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ Morris, Richard (14 December 2015). "Chet Ramey: Geek of the Week". Simple Talk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^
- Hamilton, Naomi (30 March 2008). "The A-Z of Programming Languages: BASH/Bourne-Again Shell". computerworld.com.au. Computerworld Australia. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
When Richard Stallman decided to create a full replacement for the then-encumbered Unix systems, he knew that he would eventually have to have replacements for all of the common utilities, especially the standard shell, and those replacements would have to have acceptable licensing.
- Hamilton, Naomi (30 May 2008). "The A-Z of Programming Languages: BASH/Bourne-Again Shell". readthedocs.io. Computerworld Australia. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- Hamilton, Naomi (30 May 2008). "The A-Z of Programming Languages: BASH/Bourne-Again Shell" (PDF). sc.edu. University of South Carolina, CSCE 330 Programming Language Presentations. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- Hamilton, Naomi (30 March 2008). "The A-Z of Programming Languages: BASH/Bourne-Again Shell". computerworld.com.au. Computerworld Australia. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^
"GNU's Bulletin, vol 1 no 7, June, 1989 :: GNU Project Status Report". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
Brian Fox has now completed GNU's version of sh, called BASH, the `Bourne Again SHell'.
- ^
- Stallman, Richard (12 November 2010). "About the GNU Project (Footnote 5)". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
"Bourne Again Shell" is a play on the name Bourne Shell, which was the usual shell on Unix.
- Gattol, Markus (10 January 2015). "Bourne-again Shell". markus-gattol.name. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
The name is a pun on the name of the Bourne shell (sh), an early and important Unix shell written by Stephen Bourne and distributed with Version 7 Unix circa 1978, and the concept of being 'born again'.
- Stallman, Richard (12 November 2010). "About the GNU Project (Footnote 5)". Free Software Foundation, Inc. GNU Project. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2025.