[ubuntu-uk] Shell Access for VPS server

[Sean Miller]

Not on my Ubuntu machine, my default user is still using bash.

And when writing scripts you put the shell at the top anyway, and
that's been for me #!/bin/bash in recent history.

Therefore if writing shell scripts I believe bash is still the one you want.

Bit of history here... the original shell was the Bourne Shell, which
used to be referenced as #!/bin/sh which is where the symbolic link
comes in with Ubuntu.  In Unix this was then superceded by the Korn
Shell (#!/bin/ksh) which I got used to using for many many years with
Solaris, hp-ux etc.

There was also the 'C' Shell, #!/bin/csh, which had a completely
different scripting language.  More like 'C' they say, but it never
looked much like it to me..

As scripts tend to be in files, rather than on the command line, one
can assume that as long as you put #!/bin/bash at the top of your
script it'll be bash - therefore you can safely learn bash and run
scripts on Ubuntu.

In reply to the question regarding a reference book, may I recommend
"Linux in a Nutshell" from O'Reilly.

When I was working in UNIX my primary reference manual was "UNIX in a
Nutshell", and having browsed the Linux version it is just as good.
Gives you the information you require without waffle.

See http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M242s12pV5wC&dq=linux+in+a+nutshell&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=L3pdUsxuYY&sig=hE7LgFz-Rl6emXRivfqLCvumfT4&hl=en&ei=DZVSSvrJMKmNjAf6jbmYCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3

Sean