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0 pointsarp2424y ago0 comments

There are some cases where it makes sense. For example let's say I was developing something like a build script for ncurses: that runs on many different systems, and sticking to POSIX for compatibility makes sense there. There still quite a bit of stuff like that.

But a lot of the time I see people write some shell script that's Linux or BSD specific in the first place as "compatible" shell scripts. I don't see how that makes much sense. The only advantage I can see is that dash is a bit faster than bash or zsh, but it's not that much of a difference in real scripts.

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scbrg4y ago

> The only advantage I can see is that dash is a bit faster than bash or zsh, but it's not that much of a difference in real scripts.

It also consumes quite a bit less memory, which can be relevant for shell wrappers or other long running scripts. That's the primary reason I started writing my scripts for dash rather than bash. The other advantages (portability, lack of cognitive overload caused by bash's infinitely long list of features and quirks) were an unforeseen bonus.

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0 pointsarp2424y ago0 comments

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scbrg4y ago

> The only advantage I can see is that dash is a bit faster than bash or zsh, but it's not that much of a difference in real scripts.

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