You are already logged in to a graphical desktop and open a new terminal window, so bash starts as an interactive shell that is not a login shell. Which per-user file does bash read in that case?
LPIC-1 Exam 102-500, objective 105. Shells and shell scripting medium
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The options
Correct ~/.bashrc
Correct. An interactive shell that is not a login shell reads ~/.bashrc. That is why aliases and prompt settings belong there rather than in ~/.bash_profile.
Not correct ~/.bash_profile
Wrong. ~/.bash_profile is read only by login shells. Aliases defined there will be missing in ordinary terminal windows unless it sources ~/.bashrc.
Not correct ~/.profile
Wrong for bash here. ~/.profile is a login-shell file, read by bash only if neither ~/.bash_profile nor ~/.bash_login exists. It is also the file /bin/sh login shells use.
Not correct ~/.inputrc
Wrong. ~/.inputrc is a real file, but it configures the readline library, meaning key bindings and completion behaviour, not shell variables, aliases or functions.
Why
The usual convention is: environment variables and one-time login work in ~/.bash_profile, and interactive conveniences such as aliases, functions and the prompt in ~/.bashrc. Because a login shell does not read ~/.bashrc on its own, most ~/.bash_profile files contain a line like `[ -f ~/.bashrc ] && . ~/.bashrc` so that both kinds of shell end up configured the same way.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- LPI exam objective 105.1
- What it says
- Customize the shell environment for interactive and login shells.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a short set from objective 105 and space the ones you get wrong.
More questions on this objective
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