Ubuntu Transition: Dash vs. Bash

To accelerate boot times, Ubuntu moved to using Dash (/bin/dash) as the default system shell (/bin/sh), replacing the more feature-rich but slower Bash. You can verify this linkage by checking /bin/sh -> /bin/dash. While this is great for system performance, it can cause unexpected failures in shell scripts designed specifically with “Bashisms” (features unique to Bash). If you need to revert the default shell back to Bash for compatibility reasons, you can execute the following command: ...

September 25, 2007 · 1 min · 125 words · Fran Kuo