If you are new to using Linux, then many of the commands and variations thereof may seem a bit confusing. Take the “echo” command, for example. Why do people use it when installing software? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a new Linux user’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
The Question
SuperUser reader PallavBakshi wants to know why people use the “echo” command when installing software in Linux:
Why do people use the “echo” command when installing software in Linux?
sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://packages. ros. org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main” > /etc/apt/sources. list. d/ros-latest. list’
Why do people use the “echo” command along with “sh -c” in this context? I have seen the “echo” command used in other installation processes as well.
Links I Looked Through
What Exactly is the “sh” Command?
Ubuntu Install of ROS Indigo
The Answer
SuperUser contributor Fleet Command has the answer for us:
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
Basically, this whole command writes a piece of text to a text file. Now, here comes the tricky part:
The string written to the file may be different for each computer. The part, $(lsb_release -sc), is resolved (changed into something else) when the “echo” command runs.
You can open /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list in a text editor before and after the command to see the changes for yourself. Keep in mind that the file might not exist before using this command.
