Steve Rikli <[email protected]> writes: > On Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 07:23:37PM -0400, Todd Gruhn wrote: >> I cant find 'cd'. >> Want there a program /.../cd ? >> Why cant I find this? > > I'm not sure I understand the question, but maybe this helps: > > $ type cd > cd is a shell builtin > $ echo $SHELL > /usr/pkg/bin/bash > > Similar for other shells (ksh, and sh), I believe csh has 'which' instead > of 'type', with same result.
In fact, I think that 'cd' must be a shell built in and can not really exist as a useful executable program. Think about it.... the 'cd' executable could not change the directory of its parent process, which is probably what you intended on doing by trying to execute it. It could change the directory for itself, but as soon as it exited, the parent would be right back where it started again. I have very vague memories of reading that perhaps some very early Unix systems, like in the V1 time frame, this all might have worked differently, but it hasn't for a very long time, assuming that my vague memory is at all correct. -- Brad Spencer - [email protected]
