What is /bin/[

[Kiiski]

I noticed there is file /bin/[.
Anybody know what is this file?
Because of location, if I understand correctly it is part of base system.
Why it is named so "funny"?

System:
>uname -r
7.2-RELEASE-p1
> uname -m
i386

 

[jrick]

test(1)

 

[graudeejs]

test(1)

 

[arp242]

[(1)

When you run a script, i.e.:

if [ "hello" == "${world}" ]; then
   echo "Hello world"
fi

Then `[' is just a command. It is the same as the test command (Actually, they are hard links, use ls -i on them and they have the same inode) so you can also write:

if test 'hello' == ${world} ]; then

But [ is better because it is easier to read.

 

[vermaden]

You can also simplify it like that:

[ "hello" == "${world}" ] && echo "Hello world" || echo "FAIL"

 

[vivek]

Common sys admin example:

[ -f /etc/resolv.conf ] && do_something || die "File not found"

 

[Alt]

haha when i sysadmin something i do this command every mourning lol