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4

Although your point is well taken- bash's syntax is arguably difficult and it's missing the more elegant data structures and features of Perl or Python, bash is as real as it gets- in its domain. It is a domain-specific language, and I would argue even better (more succinct, simpler) than eg Python in many instances. Can you administer a roomful of systems and not know Python? Yes. Can you do that and not know a lick of bash [programming]? I wouldn't want to try. After 30 years of shell programming I tell you it's as real as it gets. And yes, I speak Python. But don't confuse the youngsters.

Mike S
– Mike S

2016-05-10 13:21:28 +00:00
Commented May 10, 2016 at 13:21
5

That said, technically I like this answer more. To say that "&" is the answer to the user's question, "fork at one point so two copies of the same script are running" is to my mind confusing. What "&" does, according to the bash manual, is "...executes the [given] command in the background in a subshell." It must terminate a command, and it does involve a fork (technically, in Linux, a clone() ), but at that point two copies of the same script are not running.

Mike S
– Mike S

2016-05-10 13:39:13 +00:00
Commented May 10, 2016 at 13:39
The UNIX shell is (implements) a REAL programming language.

user254817
– user254817

2022-09-14 05:37:26 +00:00
Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 5:37
@Luis Yeah, my 10-year-old tongue-in-cheek comment maybe isn't the best. I'll rephrase.

mattdm
– mattdm

2022-09-15 20:21:25 +00:00
Commented Sep 15, 2022 at 20:21

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