From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Oct 13 16:30:33 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from zeus.host4u.net (zeus.host4u.net [216.71.64.21]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 368A737B503 for ; Fri, 13 Oct 2000 16:30:31 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mephistopheles.onlinecables.net (onlinecables.com [63.204.24.242]) by zeus.host4u.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id SAA15640 for ; Fri, 13 Oct 2000 18:10:12 -0500 From: Robert Shea Organization: Applied interconnect To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: changing root shell?? Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 16:11:40 -0700 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.0.28] Content-Type: text/plain References: In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <00101316304203.17386@mephistopheles.onlinecables.net> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Fri, 13 Oct 2000, Mike Eldridge wrote: > On Fri, 13 Oct 2000 media@mail1.nai.net wrote: > > I thought I was running sh. For some stupid reason I though sh was the > > default Unix shell. Maybe I should stop using a kerosene heater and wear a > > helmet. As it turns out, root is csh. I've been entering commands with sh > > syntax all along. I haven't received any syntax errors. Does this mean I > > could have trashed my system without knowing it?? > The odds are very very slim, especially considering that you received no syntax errors that you have damaged your system at all. > I'm not sure about FreeBSD (since I haven't gotten it installed on my > alpha yet, so assume me to be a freebsd newbie =P), but under Linux > (redhat at least), /bin/sh is a symbolic link to /bin/bash. I don't like > the c shell, and recommend that you use bash. > Linux users and their bash, an infatuation I have never understood ;) > > I have heard that you should not change your root shell. However, sh seems > > to be in /bin on the root filesystem. So I don't see how that would cause > > problem. How would I go about changing it?? I'd also like to change my > > default editor (as I find vi very cumbersome). The book refers to editing > > files, but I can't seem to find which files I'm supposed to edit. > Changing your root shell to sh is fine. Just try and avoid stuff on /usr without a damn good reason, and knowledge of the consequences. A basic way to change your default editor is with sysinstall. Ya know... all of this talk about changing root shells (again) has led me to believe that the litrature that comes with fbsd, linux, etc just doesn't make one thing clear enough to new unix users.... Root is only to be used for select sys admin duties... not for browsing the web, or playing quake, or editing graphics or whatever else... sheesh. *gets off the soapbox* Robert Shea "Shine yo shoes gov'na?" To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message