2
1
Can someone please explain why when i issue:
su
echo $0
it says:
bash
when
su -
echo $0
it says:
-su
?
Am i right that in the 1-st case (just su) current shell spawns a new non-interactive shell while in the second case (su -) it just stays with the current shell?
Mulligan
Posted 2017-01-16T10:34:58.017
Reputation: 533
2
When you using just su you inheriting environment of user that running su. In contrast, when you using su - (it is shortcut for -login option of su) it switching you "completely" to root's account and setting up environment in the same way as if it happen if you login directly to root
Alex
Posted 2017-01-16T10:34:58.017
Reputation: 5 606
1
Alex's answer is correct, but he hasn't really explained what you're seeing. When you run su - it's importing the environment of the user you are switching to (root in this case). The last command you ran as root must have been su.
Darren
Posted 2017-01-16T10:34:58.017
Reputation: 2 435