Of shells and xterms

[avatar]

I've got a couple of questions regarding shells and xterms.

question[1]

When I log in as root and open an xterm in fluxbox, I get this at the prompt:

bash-2.05a#

I just created a new user account called penguin, when I open an xterm it gives me:

sh-2.05a$

where did the first two letters in "bash" disappeared to? how do I fix this?

question [2]

What config file do I edit to get something like this at the prompt:

penguin@avatar.com$

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[pjp]

[avatar]

here's part of the /etc/profile:

if [ `/usr/bin/whoami` = 'root' ]
then
if [ "$SHELL" = '/bin/bash' ] || [ "$SHELL" = '/bin/sh' ]
then
export PS1='\[\033[01;31m\]\h \[\033[01;34m\]\W \$ \[\033[00m\]'
fi
export PATH="/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:${ROOTPATH}"
else
if [ "$SHELL" = '/bin/bash' ] || [ "$SHELL" = '/bin/sh' ]
then
export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h \[\033[01;34m\]\W \$ \[\033[00m\]'
fi
export PATH="/bin:/usr/bin:${PATH}"
fi

Is sh a different shell?

I don't know if this is connected, but when I shutdown x, I get the following error message:

failed to open catalog, using default messages

what does this mean?

[tomas]

Question 2: The Bash prompt HOWTO is also nice..

[pjp]

[avatar]

I did the grep as suggested and found that there was no shell specified for user penguin:

[pjp]

See this thread. Also, you should become comfortable with the Search page.

Not sure about the catalog error.

P.S. Thanks for the code tags
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

[pjp]

OK, just for info, I did a Google, AlltheWeb and Teoma for the phrase: "failed to open catalog, using default messages" and didn't find much that seemed helpful.
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

[war]

Go to /bin and type 'ls -l *sh'

sh is just a link to bash.

They're the same deal.

BTW, if you don't want to see "bash-2.05a#" in your xterms, you can edit "~/.bashrc" (or, for a system-wide change, /etc/bashrc). .bashrc is where your bash shell settings are stored.

Where it says "PS1='WHATEVER'" enter:

PS1="\u @ \W # "

Which will give you "username @ shortpath # "

Some possibilities:
\u - username
\h - hostname (computer name)
\w - long path (/home/username/whereyouare)
\W - short path (whereyouare)
\s - shell, I think (that's where you'd be getting "bash-2.05a" from)

(of course, it's replacing \u with "war" in my case, etc)

You can add whatever text you want, so:
PS1="[ \u @ \h] \w # "
would give you:
[ uname @ host] /home/uname #

So, you can customize to your heart's content. You can do colors, to, if you want, though it's pretty complex.

Hmm, might as well finish up here.

When you login to a shell, i.e. enter your username and password, the system executes either /etc/profile or ~/.bash_profile -- which is why you probably get something different at your terminal.

When you use a non-login shell, like an xterm, the system executes either /etc/bashrc or ~/.bashrc, instead.

So, you can have different aliases, a different prompt, etc, for login shells vs non-login shells, if you want.

Personally, I never saw the point. I emptied out my ~/.bashrc and put in:

source ~/.bash_profile

So they just behave the same.

Sorry if I'm babbling..... I go off on a rant sometimes without being fully concious of it

[rac]

Do you have any locale settings and have you turned off NLS? The "catalog" issue sounds like a message catalog / localization issue to me.
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For every higher wall, there is a taller ladder

[avatar]

Thanks war, I now have a decent looking xterm!

rac wrote:

[Naan Yaar]

Using the command: 'locale'.

[avatar]