Linux Shell Scripting Cookbook - Third Edition

Getting ready

Commands are typed and executed in a terminal session. When a terminal is opened, a prompt is displayed. The prompt can be configured in many ways, but frequently resembles this:

username@hostname$

Alternatively, it can also be configured as root@hostname # or simply as $ or #.

The $ character represents regular users and # represents the administrative user root. Root is the most privileged user in a Linux system.

It is a bad idea to directly use the shell as the root user (administrator) to perform tasks. Typing errors have the potential to do more damage when your shell has more privileges. It is recommended that you log in as a regular user (your shell may denote this as $ in the prompt), and use tools such as sudo to ...