Select the color which matches the steps before filenames ((non-)login and (non-)interactive), then follow that arrow the rest of the way. There’s more colors in Bash because Bash makes a distinction between remote and local shells.
Another way to look at the same data for Zsh (note: $ZDOTDIR will be used instead of $HOME if it’s defined at any step along the way):
And what’s confusing is that many times those files still manually call the others to make it more logical like zsh. That’s what I remember at least, it’s been quite a while since I used bash.
What do the differently coloured arrows mean? I’m confused.
Select the color which matches the steps before filenames ((non-)login and (non-)interactive), then follow that arrow the rest of the way. There’s more colors in Bash because Bash makes a distinction between remote and local shells.
Another way to look at the same data for Zsh (note:
$ZDOTDIRwill be used instead of$HOMEif it’s defined at any step along the way):/etc/zshenv${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshenv${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprofile${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogin${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogoutOne confusion on the Bash side of the diagram is that you see branching paths into
~/.profile,~/.bash_profileand~/.bash_login. Bash will use for~/.bash_profile,~/.bash_login, and~/.profile, in that order, and execute only the first one that exists and is readable.And what’s confusing is that many times those files still manually call the others to make it more logical like zsh. That’s what I remember at least, it’s been quite a while since I used bash.
Yeah, most distros will set up
sourcechains to make things nicer for users.