what does the command bash do when typed in a linux terminal?

Question

When I type bash in to linux cli, it gives me bash-3.2$ so what does it do?

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 20 '11 at 14:54

8

When you run bash you are creating a new bash subshell within your current shell (even if your current shell was already bash), the $SHLVL environment variable will also be incremented within that new shell.

answered Apr 20 '11 at 14:54

JeffG

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I realized that running `import subprocess; subprocess.call(['bash'])` starts a new bash subshell in your Python REPL. – bjd2385 Dec 29 '16 at 18:45

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '11 at 14:55

0

It's a shell - think of it like the cmd window in Windows(if that's what you're used to). It allows you to execute commands. I would have a look through the wikipedia entry as a starting point.

answered Apr 20 '11 at 14:55

vsltd

486
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2

what does the command bash do when typed in a linux terminal?

2 Answers2