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Why switch to zsh when most people who use the command line(including me) are pretty comfortable with bash?

This is very confusing to me. Does anyone know why Apple decided to change the default shell?


MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 4:38 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 29, 2019 5:45 PM

You can use anything you want.


However, bash will never be updated on macOS. The version that is still bundled is very old.

It will never be updated because newer versions are covered by the GPLv3 license which is incompatible with any hardware manufacturer wanting to bundle that software with their hardware.


Zsh is still under GPLv2 and being updated under that license.


If you want to keep using an out of date shell, continue using bash, or install a newer version on your own.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 29, 2019 5:45 PM in response to PuppyPuppy

You can use anything you want.


However, bash will never be updated on macOS. The version that is still bundled is very old.

It will never be updated because newer versions are covered by the GPLv3 license which is incompatible with any hardware manufacturer wanting to bundle that software with their hardware.


Zsh is still under GPLv2 and being updated under that license.


If you want to keep using an out of date shell, continue using bash, or install a newer version on your own.

Why switch to zsh when most people who use the command line(including me) are pretty comfortable with bash?

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