I really loathe Terminal. .bash/.bashrc…permissions…users…All
I’m trying to do is update curl and rvm but I keep getting “-bash: $:
command not found” Is there a preferred way to setup and/or use
Terminal or setup the .bash file?
Bonus question: When I open Terminal I see $Home but I often see [~] $
in tutorial videos such as the one in the install video at <http://ruby.railstutorial.org/
. I assume this has to do with a path setting or some such?
When you see the $ that means the prompt for a normal user, and it’s a
convention used in geeky tutorials to make it clear that you, as you, type this in the terminal. If you see that in a tutorial, DON’T
type that character. If you see a # that means you are su’d to root.
It’s a minor clue, but an important one.
Walter
On May 20, 2011, at 7:22 PM, Todd wrote:
I really loathe Terminal. .bash/.bashrc…permissions…users…All
I’m trying to do is update curl and rvm but I keep getting “-bash:
$: command not found” Is there a preferred way to setup and/or use
Terminal or setup the .bash file?
Bonus question: When I open Terminal I see $Home but I often see [~]
$ in tutorial videos such as the one in the install video at <http://ruby.railstutorial.org/
. I assume this has to do with a path setting or some such?
When you see the $ that means the prompt for a normal user, and it’s
a convention used in geeky tutorials to make it clear that you, as you, type this in the terminal. If you see that in a tutorial,
DON’T type that character.
[Laughs] That’s about all I do know, so no, I don’t type $. What I
don’t understand is why I’m getting “-bash: $: command not found”.
Does this mean my .bash file is incorrect?
If your terminal is completely unusable, try going into your home
folder using Transmit, and look for a file named .bash_profile
or .bash_login and rename it to something else. Close Terminal and
open it again and see whether that fixes anything.
The only time I have seen the exact error you mentioned is when I type
the $.
Walter
On May 20, 2011, at 8:01 PM, Todd wrote:
When you see the $ that means the prompt for a normal user, and
it’s a convention used in geeky tutorials to make it clear that
you, as you, type this in the terminal. If you see that in a
tutorial, DON’T type that character.
[Laughs] That’s about all I do know, so no, I don’t type $. What I
don’t understand is why I’m getting “-bash: $: command not found”.
Does this mean my .bash file is incorrect?
I tried updating rvm again and Terminal seems to be working fine now,
though it seems my attempt to update Ruby to 1.9.2 from 1.8.7 has
failed because it’s Intel only. I’ll have to wait until my MBP
arrives. Always something.
Thanks,
Todd
On May 20, 2011, at 7:15 PM, Walter Davis wrote:
If your terminal is completely unusable, try going into your home
folder using Transmit, and look for a file named .bash_profile
or .bash_login and rename it to something else. Close Terminal and
open it again and see whether that fixes anything.
I really loathe Terminal. .bash/.bashrc…permissions…users…All
I’m trying to do is update curl and rvm but I keep getting “-bash:
$: command not found” Is there a preferred way to setup and/or use
Terminal or setup the .bash file?
Bonus question: When I open Terminal I see $Home but I often see [~]
$ in tutorial videos such as the one in the install video at http://ruby.railstutorial.org/. I assume this has to do with a
path setting or some such?
Walter has covered the ‘$’ prompt.
As for ‘~’, it’s a shortcut for the path to your home folder
recognised by most shells.
All Unix processes have a bit of memory for its ‘environment’, which
is nothing more than a list of variable names and values. One of
these is HOME (upper case) which is given the value of your home
folder path according to the entry in the user account database for
the current user when you log in. As Unix processes are all created
by duplicating the one that starts the new one and replacing its
innards with the program code to do the new task, the environment is
inherited, and all processes have an appropriate value for HOME. Some
commands, like shells, will freely substitute the value for HOME when
given a ‘~’, and in some cases vice-versa when it’s relevant.
I’ve lived on the command line for 36 years, and the Unix command
line for 28. Before that it was pure hexadecimal keyboard and punched
cards. It’s easy really
David
–
David Ledger - Freelance Unix Sysadmin in the UK.
HP-UX specialist of hpUG technical user group (www.hpug.org.uk)
email@hidden www.ivdcs.co.uk
