Re: Problem with time command

[Chris Jackson <c.jackson@shadowcat.co.uk>]

Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:

> GNU time 1.7
> bss@dellbuntu:~$ type time
> time is a shell keyword
> 
> (Bash has a time "builtin" that you should avoid if you want to use the time 
> binary.)


Actually it's a keyword not a builtin. By contrast, "kill":

chrisj@alice$ type kill
kill is a shell builtin

This also means you can't disable it:

chrisj@alice$ enable -n time
bash: enable: time: not a shell builtin

Not sure why time is a keyword (on a par with if, for etc.) rather than
a builtin, but there you go. If anyone has any enlightenment, I'd be
curious ;)

--
Chris Jackson
Shadowcat Systems Ltd.