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(bashref.info)What is Bash?

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What is Bash?
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   Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, for the GNU
operating system.  The name is an acronym for the `Bourne-Again SHell',
a pun on Stephen Bourne, the author of the direct ancestor of the
current Unix shell `/bin/sh', which appeared in the Seventh Edition
Bell Labs Research version of Unix.

   Bash is largely compatible with `sh' and incorporates useful
features from the Korn shell `ksh' and the C shell `csh'.  It is
intended to be a conformant implementation of the IEEE POSIX Shell and
Tools specification (IEEE Working Group 1003.2).  It offers functional
improvements over `sh' for both interactive and programming use.

   While the GNU operating system provides other shells, including a
version of `csh', Bash is the default shell.  Like other GNU software,
Bash is quite portable.  It currently runs on nearly every version of
Unix and a few other operating systems - independently-supported ports
exist for MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 95/98, and Windows NT.