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What is the preferred Bash shebang ("#!")?

Asked 2012-04-29T21:37:00.027
1737

Is there any Bash shebang objectively better than the others for most uses?

  • #!/usr/bin/env bash
  • #!/bin/bash
  • #!/bin/sh
  • #!/bin/sh -
  • etc

I vaguely recall a long time ago hearing that adding a dash to the end prevents someone passing a command to your script, but can’t find any details on that.

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2 Answers

96

/bin/sh is usually a link to the system's default shell, which is often bash but on, e.g., Debian systems is the lighter weight dash. Either way, the original Bourne shell is sh, so if your script uses some bash (2nd generation, "Bourne Again sh") specific features ([[ ]] tests, arrays, various sugary things, etc.), then you should be more specific and use the later. This way, on systems where bash is not installed, your script won't run. I understand there may be an exciting trilogy of films about this evolution...but that could be hearsay.

Also note that when evoked as sh, bash to some extent behaves as POSIX standard sh (see also the GNU docs about this).

answered 2012-04-29T21:39:45.507
6

It really depends on how you write your bash scripts. If your /bin/sh is symlinked to bash, when bash is invoked as sh, some features are unavailable.

If you want bash-specific, non-POSIX features, use #!/bin/bash

answered 2012-04-29T22:36:34.793

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