Shells are command interperters to the kernel. Users can execute commands from a shell at the prompt, like: ls, uptime, cp, rm...
The shell in returns takes our input, parses it, and hands instructions to the kernel to execute. user --> shell --> kernel Much like a graphical interface (windows) interperts to shell commands: user --> gui --> shell --> kernel Different shells have different features to offer the end user, but in the end they all do the same thing, interpert user input. If you want to learn more about them, csh ( or tcsh ) and bash are fairly easy to learn and have some nice features like command/filename completion using the tab key and up-arrow history. You can learn this from the man pages, by typing man bash, man tcsh at your SHELL prompt :) This is just a simple, brief explanation of what they do however. Shells are very powerful and have a lot of features that can take a years to expertise. Hope this helps. Dennis On Fri, 27 Jun 1997, David Miles wrote: > Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 07:13:52 -0600 (MDT) > From: David Miles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: terminology/concept questions > Resent-Date: 27 Jun 1997 21:59:50 -0000 > Resent-From: [email protected] > Resent-cc: recipient.list.not.shown:;@lists.debian.org > > > C shell, borne shell, ?? shell, etc. > > in simple terms, would someone briefly explain to me what these terms > mean, please? > > > -- > TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > ==================================================================== + dpk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> + work : 517.353.8892 + + Systems Undergrad + pager: 517.222.5875 + + Division of Engineering Computing Services + + ==================================================================== -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
