From owner-freebsd-questions Mon Aug 11 16:06:52 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id QAA06758 for questions-outgoing; Mon, 11 Aug 1997 16:06:52 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.san.rr.com (san.rr.com [204.210.0.1]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id QAA06750; Mon, 11 Aug 1997 16:06:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from uucp@localhost) by mail.san.rr.com (8.7.6/8.7.3) id QAA00849; Mon, 11 Aug 1997 16:06:16 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199708112306.QAA00849@mail.san.rr.com> Received: from dt5h1n61.san.rr.com(204.210.31.97) by mail via smap (V1.3) id tmp000725; Mon Aug 11 16:05:52 1997 From: "Studded" To: "FreeBSD-chat@freebsd.org" , "FreeBSD Questions" Date: Mon, 11 Aug 97 16:05:28 -0800 Reply-To: "Studded" Priority: Normal X-Mailer: PMMail 1.92 For OS/2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Needed: Info on shells and script writing Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk I'm looking for a good book on the sh shell and writing scripts with it. Even better would be some good FAQ's and such available on the net since "free" is much more in my price range nowadays. :) Alternatively, is sh "dead" in the modern Unix world? I know Perl and TCL are very popular, but I'm trying to produce some tools that will be compatible across a number of platforms, and are easily accesible/modifiable by people who are not professional system administrators. Finally, for general purposes, what is the "best" shell available, and why? I know that this topic borders on religious fervor for some people, but I'm at the point where I'm ready to pursue some intermediate/advanced learning and before I put a lot of effort into something that is never going to be the "best" I'd like some advice. Personally I'm happy with Bash for my everyday stuff, although from what I've heard it's looked down on by the purists. Thank you, Doug PS, I'm on both lists, but I'm not sure which is the more appropriate for this question. Please feel free to limit responses to whichever you feel is best. Do thou amend they face, and I'll amend my life. -Shakespeare, "Henry V"