On Tue, Feb 04, 2003 at 08:01:14PM -0500, Dan G wrote: > I understand that a shel like /bin/bash is interactive since it provides > login and command execution for the user. What happens if you set a user's > login shell to a non-interactive shell like /bin/sh. Does this allow script > execution and login but no command execution? > Hi Dan, Slight misconception here. All the many shells are interactive, bash, sh, tcsh, ksh, zsh ... etc. They are non-interactive when used to run canned scripts either by directly using the shell command name to run the script or writing a script with the very first line conatining the special construct "#!name_of_shell. /bin/sh harks back to the Bourne shell, the original Unix shell and as such is rarely used interactively, since it lacks many of the features which people are now used to, command recall, history mechanism, extra language features etc. The tcsh is also very popular in the BSD world because of it's history, although it does not work in quie the same way. Bash is an eclectic mixture of these many shells, and despite it's hugeness is of course very popular. The manual page complains that it is too slow, but I don't think anyone really notices that too much. It *is* big however. /bin/sh is used in scripts because it is de-facto a standard shell, although I suppose one day Posix conformance will take over. So it is prudent to write shell scripts using /bin/sh for portability etc. No sane-person uses tcsh to write scripts in, it is obscure and arcane and riddled with problems..but is also an excellent interactive shell. Bash can be made to work in sh/posix compatible mode using a suitable flag. Then there is the zsh, which really is the bees-knees of all shells...but hardly known about. If you want to restrict users in some way to what they can do, examine the use of the "restricted" shell options, or the use of chroot environments. Or write a shell script that locks them inside it somehow and disallows certain commands. -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] -- Psyche-list mailing list Psyche-list@redhat.com https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/psyche-list
