Default Shell Versions Across Distributions

Updated

October 31, 2026

Default Shell Versions Across Distributions

  • Debian & Ubuntu: /bin/sh points to Dash (Debian Almquist Shell), an ultra-fast, minimal POSIX shell. Any bashism in #!/bin/sh will fail!
  • Alpine Linux: /bin/sh and /bin/bash (if not installed) point to BusyBox Ash.
  • Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, Arch: /bin/sh is a symlink to GNU Bash running in POSIX compatibility mode.