*BSD News Article 60820


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From: ejr@dickens.bra01.icl.co.uk (Ed Randall)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: /bin/sh isn't Bourne shell
Date: 30 Jan 1996 10:23:16 GMT
Organization: ICL, Bracknell, UK
Lines: 28
Message-ID: <4ekrik$rlf@eccles.dsbc.icl.co.uk>
NNTP-Posting-Host: dickens.bra01.icl.co.uk
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]

I've just ungraded to 2.1.0-R and started my installing my usual favourite
packages (ksh, fvwm etc).  As part of this, I changed root's default shell
to /bin/ksh (It's what I'm used to using at work), set up a .kshrc file
with a few aliases in it, and an ENV variable.

Later I need to create more vty's, and ran MAKEDEV.  It barfed about some
non-existant error.  Wierd.  Eventually I tracked it down - although
/dev/MAKEDEV was #!/bin/sh, it was reading in my $ENV file and loading up 
the aliases.  One of which was "j", which affected a case statement rather
badly.

Now I'm sure masses of people will rush to correct me, but I'd always thought
that a "proper" Unix box used a Bourne shell for /bin/sh, and a Bourne shell
didn't have aliases.  Or take any notice of silly $ENV variables.
Maybe things have moved on whilst I've been using Aches, HP-Sucks, Dix, et. al,
and I just havn't noticed.  But one of the reasons that I switched from Linux 
to FreeBSD was just that - it's more "standard".

Where can I get a "proper" Bourne shell ?  If I want features, I'll use ksh or 
bash, but sometimes, you just don't need 'em !


Thanks for any help, and keep up the good work !

Ed
home: ed@orlando.demon.co.uk
work: E.J.Randall@bra0126.wins.icl.co.uk