learning and experimenting python.

[eryk sun]

On Fri, Dec 30, 2016 at 7:49 PM, Michael Torrie <torriem at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Is there a special reason bourne shell uses $ and #?

To me, "$"  is for the [$]tandard shell prompt, and "#" noticeably
distinguishes root shells.

> Coming from an old DOS background (>) I found that rather jarring at first.

DOS is a single-user system with no security, so it doesn't need to
distinguish standard and root prompts.

In modern Windows, cmd and PowerShell change the console title instead
of the prompt. The title starts with "Administrator: " if the user is
an administrator (i.e. the BUILTIN\Administrators group is present and
enabled in the process token).

> You say "%" is for "other shell."  Which shells?  *Any* other shell?

"%" is the standard prompt for csh. I think the legacy Thompson shell
also used it.