Terminal + Username

[goozballs3]

instead of getting the usual "shortname" when i open terminal, right before the text that i type in, im getting this funky set of characters: bash-2.05b$

anyone know whats going on / how to fix it?

 

[Arden]

Search for "bash" on this site. You should find some explanations.

 

[fryke]

Okay, I want to answer this one, anyway.

bash = Bourne Again SHell
It's a UN*X shell. Apple switched from tcsh to bash in Panther as the default shell for the Terminal. (You can type 'tcsh' to get to the one you're used to, though.)

So

bash-2.05b$ is really

"bash Version 2.05b". And the $-sign is your command prompt, replacing the %-sign from the tcsh-shell.

[mac.fryke.com:~] fryke%

as compared to

-bash-2.05b$

 

[goozballs3]

and will apple change this to map to your username in the GM version?

 

[fryke]

no, why? ;-)

(search the 'net for 'changing command line prompt bash' in order to find out how to do it yourself.)

 

[Arden]

So what is the base directory when you open up the Terminal in Panther?

 

[symphonix]

You can change the default shell you are using by going into NetInfo Manager (in Applications/Utilities) and browsing to your user entry. Change the shell entry from bash to tcsh.

 

[fryke]

default directory is always your home path, i.e. "/Users/yourshortusername"