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Chapter 3.
Shell Prompt Basics
3.1. Why Use a Shell Prompt
Graphical environments for Linux have come a long way in the past few years. You can be perfectly
productive in the X Window System and only have to open a shell prompt to complete a few tasks.
However, many Red Hat Enterprise Linux functions can be completed faster from the shell prompt
than from a graphical user interface (GUI). In less time than it takes to open a file manager, locate a
directory, and then create, delete, or modify files from a GUI, a task can be finished with just a few
commands at a shell prompt.
A shell prompt looks similar to other command line interfaces with which you might be familiar.
Users type commands at a shell prompt, the shell interprets these commands, and then the shell tells
the OS what to do. Experienced users can write shell scripts to expand their capabilities even further.
Figure 3-1. A Shell Prompt
This chapter explains how to navigate the file system, manipulate files, perform simple administration
tasks, and other shell prompt basics.
3.2. The History of the Shell
When AT&T software engineers Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson were designing UNIX™, they
wanted to create a way for people to interact with their new system.
Operating systems at that time came with command interpreters, which could take commands from
the user and interpret them into something computers could use.
But Ritchie and Thompson wanted something more, something that offered better features than the
command interpreters available at that time. This lead to the development of the Bourne shell (known
as
), created by S.R. Bourne. Since the creation of the Bourne shell, other shells have been devel-
sh
oped, such as the C shell (
) and the Korn shell (
).
csh
ksh
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Troubleshooting
