Linux Journal: Scripting GNU in the 21st Century

"Most people tend to encounter shell scripts as attempts to write portable utilities that run properly on most, if not all, UNIX workalikes. Instead of making the best use of the shell and related programs, these scripts restrict themselves to the absolute most portable baseline of features. The extreme example of this sort of programming can be seen when one looks at the configure scripts generated by the autoconf program.

"But this is 2004, and the full GNU environment is now commonplace. The advanced shells and utilities now are the default user environment for GNU/Linux systems, and they are available as install options on BSD-based systems. Even proprietary UNIXes often have complete sets of GNU software laid atop them to bring them up to date with the modern world. Because GNU software can be obtained at little or no cost, there is no excuse to continue scripting in a retrograde proprietary environment..."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• LinuxInsider: Platforms for Testing and Publishing(May 12, 2004)
• Pennington: Java, Mono, or C++?(Mar 17, 2004)