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    UNIX: Switching Users with su

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    sam linux administrationsam freebsd administrationunixlinuxcentos rhelsolarisaixfreebsdopenbsdnetbsddragonfly bsdsu
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    • alex.olynykA
      alex.olynyk @BRRABill
      last edited by

      @BRRABill Exactly! Inquiring minds want to know

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • travisdh1T
        travisdh1 @BRRABill
        last edited by

        @BRRABill said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

        And why is it sometimes

        one dash

        One dash is normally used for "shorthand", or shorted operators for the different programs. IE

        ls -ha
        

        -h is really --human-readable being passed to ls and
        -a is really --all being passed to ls

        and other times

        two dashes

        Two dashes are normally "long form", see my previous ls example.

        for other commands?

        It's really just up to whoever wrote the program. For example, mdadm has lots and lots of optional command line switches. Because of how many long form options mdadm has, very few can be a single letter and still have each option be unique.

        I'm sure I've got the details wrong and @scottalanmiller will pipe in sometime soon.

        BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • BRRABillB
          BRRABill @travisdh1
          last edited by

          @travisdh1 said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

          @BRRABill said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

          And why is it sometimes

          one dash

          One dash is normally used for "shorthand", or shorted operators for the different programs. IE

          ls -ha
          

          -h is really --human-readable being passed to ls and
          -a is really --all being passed to ls

          and other times

          two dashes

          Two dashes are normally "long form", see my previous ls example.

          for other commands?

          It's really just up to whoever wrote the program. For example, mdadm has lots and lots of optional command line switches. Because of how many long form options mdadm has, very few can be a single letter and still have each option be unique.

          I'm sure I've got the details wrong and @scottalanmiller will pipe in sometime soon.

          Will | in very soon?

          travisdh1T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • travisdh1T
            travisdh1 @BRRABill
            last edited by

            @BRRABill said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

            @travisdh1 said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

            @BRRABill said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

            And why is it sometimes

            one dash

            One dash is normally used for "shorthand", or shorted operators for the different programs. IE

            ls -ha
            

            -h is really --human-readable being passed to ls and
            -a is really --all being passed to ls

            and other times

            two dashes

            Two dashes are normally "long form", see my previous ls example.

            for other commands?

            It's really just up to whoever wrote the program. For example, mdadm has lots and lots of optional command line switches. Because of how many long form options mdadm has, very few can be a single letter and still have each option be unique.

            I'm sure I've got the details wrong and @scottalanmiller will pipe in sometime soon.

            Will | in very soon?

            I'm so puny I don't even know it!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • scottalanmillerS
              scottalanmiller @BRRABill
              last edited by

              @BRRABill said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

              And why is it sometimes

              one dash

              and other times

              two dashes

              for other commands?

              Because "commands" aren't really what they are. They are independent applications. There are conventions but that is all that they are.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • GreyG
                Grey @Grey
                last edited by

                @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                Pop quiz: why do you need the dash with su?

                Still no answers for this... hint: it has to do with environment.

                DustinB3403D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • DustinB3403D
                  DustinB3403 @Grey
                  last edited by

                  @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                  @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                  Pop quiz: why do you need the dash with su?

                  Still no answers for this... hint: it has to do with environment.

                  Because it provides the user the full environmental experience of the new identity. For this reason, su is almost always used with a hyphen.

                  GreyG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • GreyG
                    Grey @DustinB3403
                    last edited by

                    @DustinB3403 said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                    @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                    @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                    Pop quiz: why do you need the dash with su?

                    Still no answers for this... hint: it has to do with environment.

                    Because it provides the user the full environmental experience of the new identity. For this reason, su is almost always used with a hyphen.

                    Exactly! Lots of linux n00bs skip the dash and it's amazing to see the confusion when things just "aren't right" as they're working in the shell.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • scottalanmillerS
                      scottalanmiller @Grey
                      last edited by

                      @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                      Pop quiz: why do you need the dash with su?

                      That was in the original article.

                      DustinB3403D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • DustinB3403D
                        DustinB3403 @scottalanmiller
                        last edited by

                        @scottalanmiller said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                        @Grey said in UNIX: Switching Users with su:

                        Pop quiz: why do you need the dash with su?

                        That was in the original article.

                        And I quoted you without quoting you..... see what I did there, I switched a few words 😛

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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