Both are excellent interactive shells. >* automatic completion on variables names, e.g. type > "export DISP" and hit tab. (I just checked, in bash you can use > Esc-$ to specifically complete a variable name; in zsh the default > compctl (completion) has been setup to complete for a variable name > if the command is "export". While the zsh seemed easier, I guess > the bash approach allows you to control it more.)
IIRC bash will complete over variable names when you write a $ at the start. zsh has other cute completion features, e.g. I have this in my .zshrc: hosts=(valour cushioned myrddin tacitus chiark \ mercury.elmailer.net wigwam.elmail.co.uk sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk \ ftp.uu.net ftp.sendmail.org tlingit.elmail.co.uk) ssh=(chiark) compctl -k ssh ssh compctl -k hosts telnet ftp rlogin rsh ping traceroute compctl -k hosts -f rcp scp which gives me hostname completion on a selection of network commands. >There are 2 programs that really pay off putting a bit of effort into >learning: the shell you use and the editor you use. Picking a "simple >and easy to use" editor is a short sighted approach. Pick a powerful >editor and invest some time in learning it. (You don't have to learn >it all, and you don't have to learn all that much at first, either.) >It will really pack off. And I think the same philosophy applies, >perhaps to a lesser degree, to the shell you use. Agreed. -- Richard Kettlewell http://www.elmail.co.uk/~richard/