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Switching from tcsh to bash?

momerath2003 asks: "With the advent of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, Apple will switch its default shell from tcsh to bash (in order to conform more to the newer Linux trends). A lot of Mac power users will want to know how to make the switch, especially if they use such tcsh-specific extra files as the login/out scripts in the /usr/share/tcsh/examples directory (they automatically set up some aliases and can automatically read aliases from a specific file, among other things). So, how do we all adapt? What are some ways to emulate the behavior of the example files, and what differences are there between the bash and tcsh shells?"

3 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. big deal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I imagine the "power users" who use tcsh will... wait for it ... here it comes ... SWITCH BACK TO TCSH!

    Really, it's no big deal. They are both fine shells. Tcsh is rotten for programming but that doesn't affect most people.

  2. Um, different user target by mugnyte · · Score: 3, Insightful


    By the very nature of *nix environment, one should be able to switch shells without much problem. Leftover habits when coding may keep creeping in, but consistency is key. If you've done any awk/sed/csh/bash/ksh like programming, one realizes that not all the world is one language - yet.

    Presupposing that people will have "trouble" switching is kind of assuming we're dealing with a "who moved my cheese" user seen more on corporate win32 desktops. Any techie worth their salt knows how to get a job done in a shell. Perhaps the most exasperating are the escape sequences. But one just see the runtime differences and plods through the changes. no magic here.

    mug

  3. more a niggle with OS X by grocer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it would be nice if OS X actually let the user set the shell from the system preferences...on the other, anybody who cares will do it themselves and forget about it.