Learning about your environment

Commands entered at the command-line prompt are parsed by the current shell program. Your system may offer several different shell programs. The printenv command will show you what shell is currently interpreting your commands, what directory paths will be searched when you attempt to use the name of an executable file as a command, and numerous other settings. If you need to seek out someone's assistance about any difficulties with the command line, your helper will appreciate being shown a screen capture printout from printenv.