Re: [vox-tech] I don't have an .inputrc

[Micah Cowan <micMAPSah@cowanbox.com>]

On Wed, Mar 07, 2001 at 04:48:29PM -0800, Deja User wrote:

> When I create unix accounts using Korn shell, I modify a .profile
> (in my home directory) and that's it. I think the way Linux/Bash is
> configured seems unnecessarily complex. Now, someone can tell me
> exactly how logical and simple it all is... ; ) BTW: I use ksh to
> maintain compatibility with my work environment. I want to work more
> with ksh scripting. Given my limited knowledge, I am assuming it
> might be unwise to write ksh scripts in a bash environment, although
> probably most of what I write will be sh compatible. Dunno... UA

.inputrc isn't extra complexity - it's extra functionality.  There's
certainly no need to use it whatsoever, but it allows you to customize
anything which uses libreadline.

BTW, .inputrc has absolutely nothing to do with bash (directly).  It
has to do with libreadline, which is /used/ by bash.  It's also used
by Perl and gdb and other things; and the changes you make in your
.inputrc affect all those things as well.

ksh seems to be a great shell (here I'm not talking about the one
usually shipped with Linux, but the newest version, ksh93 I
think...).  But bash has most of the functionality it has, and is free
software, whereas ksh is not.  This is why I prefer bash.

Bash also has many truly terrific features which are rarely used;
including the abilitiy to write your own "builtin" commands and plug
them in to a currently running session.

Micah