What happens when you run a Linux command? This simple act can appear straightforward, but many different things can actually occur, depending on whether you’re running an executable program, a shell ...

If you’re not sure if you’re running a Linux command or you’re using a bash builtin, don’t stress, it isn’t all that obvious. In fact, you can get very used to commands like cd without realizing that ...

Linux built-ins are commands that are built into the shell, much like shelves that are built into a wall. You won’t find them as stand-alone files the way standard Linux commands are stored in ...

This article is reprinted from the book A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming 3rd edition, with permission of the author and publisher ...

It’s easy to take the Unix command line for granted. That is, it’s easy to get used to typing in commands and getting responses without thinking very much about how the system determines what command ...