UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I am using bash on two different unix versions and for some reason the commands operate slightly differently. For example, 'ls * -la' gives me an error on one unix system, but works fine on a different system. The versions of unix are actually OS x and linux, and both systems are running GNU bash 3.2.

Since I am switching between different systems often, the different command line syntax is really annoying. Does anyone know if the differences are because of a compile option or is there a config file somewhere that results in the different behavior?

I have tried compiling bash from source with what I think is the same conditions on both systems, but I can't resolve the differences

Thanks

What are the differences you are experiencing? Telling us would help. Also why are you entering "ls * -la" instead of the more common "ls -al *"

Hi
maybe you can define some alias-es for your commands.... and in that way hou will have the same command names on both systems...

Hi,

I suppose I could set up a series of aliases for the differences between the bashes. But I would like to know why the same source code compiles differently on different system without going through the code itself. I can't seem to find any explanation anywhere online to explain what I am seeing, and there is nothing in the configure docs on it.

But this is not a major problem for me, it is just that I got used to the way bash works under Linux, hence I often use syntax like 'ls * -la' rather than the more standard 'ls -l *'. And I seem to be looking up man pages quite a lot these days to find out what the syntax is for common commands.

Thanks,

Hi,

regarding to the `why the same source code compiles differently on different system`
I think the main cause is the architectural differences between the systems. Integrating a gnu utility into a new operating system, may be difficult, and sometimes you should limit the utility capabilities in order to integrate into your os....

In the past I also faced your problem, an I also wondered why the basic command syntaxes are so different... My final conclusion is that every OS is a different OS, even that they are kindred... Different OS, different commands...

regards