String Comparison in Bash Is Not Working

String Comparison in Bash Is Not Working

Hi I'm new to bash scripting. Just wrote this simple program but it is throwing error.

#!/bin/bash
os=`uname -o`
echo $os
if ["$os"=="GNU/Linux"] ; then
    echo "Linux"
else
    echo "Windows"
fi 

Using == or -eq for both cases I'm getting the following error and it is printing the else condn.

./ostype.sh: line 3: [GNU/Linux==GNU/Linux]: No such file or directory

Windows

Bash version : GNU bash, version 3.2.48(1)-release (x86_64-suse-linux-gnu)

2

2 Answers

try

if [ "$os" = "GNU/Linux" ]

note the spaces, and the single =.

[ is actually a program, and the rest are arguments!

3

Use = for string comparison. See:

Also, there should be a space around the square brackets and the comparison operator, i.e.

if [ "$os" = "GNU/Linux" ]; then 
  ^ ^     ^ ^           ^  
  | |     | |           |
   \-\-----\-\-----------\-- (need spaces here)
0

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David Miller
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David Miller

David Miller brings 15 years of experience in global economics, personal finance strategy, and market dynamics. He specializes in turning complex economic trends into actionable insights for everyday readers.