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What does the 'rc' in `.bashrc`, etc. mean?

Fresh5 days ago
Mar 15, 202697382 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

Well, this is embarrassing. I feel like I just realised I don't know a loyal colleague's name after working with them for 10 years. "Hey, er... *cough!*, thanks for that great job you did on setting my aliases this morning..." What do the letters signify in , , etc.? If you know, please cite sources. Even if you don't know, I'd also welcome unfounded assumptions, suggestions or alternatives if they're marked as such.

Error Output

rc

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Fix for: What does the 'rc' in `.bashrc`, etc. mean?

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It stands for “run commands”. This comes from MIT’s CTSS (Compatible Time-Sharing System) and Multics, where the idea that a command processing shell would be an ordinary program originated. CTSS had a program called RUNCOM (for “run commands”) and a script was called “a runcom” in the community where Unix originated, leading to the file extension and generally to the abbreviation. stuck as a name for any list of commands.

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