Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Are you tired of having your shell scripts run by the slow, bloated bash? In this video, I'll show you how you can change your system shell (/bin/sh) to dash for minimal performance and security gains—and, more importantly, how to write better shell scripts that are portable, posix-compliant and usable by everyone, not just bash users.
Article on checking for Bashisms and testing with Dash: dev.to/bowmanjd/writing-bash-scripts-that-are-not-only-bash-checking-for-bashisms-and-testing-with-dash-1bli
Dash article in the Arch Wiki: wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dash
Watch my videos on Odysee: odysee.com/@ericnmurphy
My website: https://ericmurphy.xyz
My GitHub: github.com/ericmurphyxyz
0:00 Intro
1:14 Differences between bash and dash
2:35 Installing dash
2:45 Checking /bin/sh scripts to remove bashisms
6:23 Making your scripts dash-compliant
7:40 Or just set bash scripts explicitly with /bin/bash
9:02 Using shellcheck for even more detail
10:00 Symlinking /bin/sh to dash
10:41 Relinking dash every time bash updates
11:45 Conclusion
Are you tired of having your shell scripts run by the slow, bloated bash? In this video, I'll show you how you can change your system shell (/bin/sh) to dash for minimal performance and security gains—and, more importantly, how to write better shell scripts that are portable, posix-compliant and usable by everyone, not just bash users.
Article on checking for Bashisms and testing with Dash: dev.to/bowmanjd/writing-bash-scripts-that-are-not-only-bash-checking-for-bashisms-and-testing-with-dash-1bli
Dash article in the Arch Wiki: wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dash
Watch my videos on Odysee: odysee.com/@ericnmurphy
My website: https://ericmurphy.xyz
My GitHub: github.com/ericmurphyxyz
0:00 Intro
1:14 Differences between bash and dash
2:35 Installing dash
2:45 Checking /bin/sh scripts to remove bashisms
6:23 Making your scripts dash-compliant
7:40 Or just set bash scripts explicitly with /bin/bash
9:02 Using shellcheck for even more detail
10:00 Symlinking /bin/sh to dash
10:41 Relinking dash every time bash updates
11:45 Conclusion
