[xelxebar]

Bash is HN's little punching bag language for some reason. Every post about shell programming or project thereof sees a hoard of comments denouncing the language in vage, unspecific terms, "if you need to write more than $N lines of sh, you should use a REAL language".

I'm truly mystified as to why we're doing this. True, shell programming has footguns, but they're not egregiously numerous compared to the typical suggestioned replacements.

Funnily enough, when the issues with these other languages are brought up—like arbitrary code execution on module import—instead of shallow comments, we often cue an informative and interesting discussion.

Why do we HNers treat the shell language so differently?

One of my working hypotheses is that it's due to shell being both ubiquitous and unfamiliar. Everyone uses it but earnest study is rare. That perhaps make it an easy stress sink for our various sublimated frustrations.

I'm an unabashed (heh) fan of shell programming. It really is a beautiful little language once you learn how to think in terms of data streams, dynamic scope, and DSL design.