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Do anybody have idea about full form of rc.d at?

  /etc/rc.d

It contain scripts to is used to control the starting, stopping and restarting of daemons. But what exactly meaning of rc here, do anyone have clue?

Ura
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user3134198
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4 Answers4

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It's all based off of Bell Labs System V Unix which was somewhere around when init and run levels were introduced.

It stands for runcom or run commands. In the question of anything Unix, consult the Jargon File. There's a deep history, canonical and recorded that came before Linux

:rc file: /R·C fi:l/, n.

[Unix: from runcom files on the {CTSS} system 1962-63, via the startup script /etc/rc] Script file containing startup instructions for an application program (or an entire operating system), usually a text file containing commands of the sort that might have been invoked manually once the system was running but are to be executed automatically each time the system starts up. See also {dot file}, {profile} (sense 1).

Fiasco Labs
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It is derived from "run commands".

From Unix FAQ

rc (as in ".cshrc" or "/etc/rc") = "RunCom" "rc" derives from "runcom", from the MIT CTSS system, ca. 1965.

'There was a facility that would execute a bunch of commands stored in a file; it was called "runcom" for "run commands", and the file began to be called "a runcom." "rc" in Unix is a fossil from that usage.'

Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie, as told to Vicki Brown "rc" is also the name of the shell from the new Plan 9 operating system.

suspectus
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rc.d contains runlevels, I vote for runlevel control or possibly runlevel config

I don't think it's related to bashrc

stvie
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    My main question is to know about **rc** stand for what? So I think rc stand for run commands, so that means .bashrc contains commands to execute when ever new bash terminal opens. isn't it? – user3134198 Jan 30 '14 at 07:15
  • that's reasonable too, but runlevels are controlled in rc.d, ie init 3 , init 5 etc., so that was my logic. It probably could be either. Run Level Control is referenced in documentation from linuxfromscratch and the original sysv – stvie Jan 30 '14 at 07:25
  • the /etc/rc.X have nothing to do with .bashrc at all - in fact the commands in /etc/rc.X don't even need to be written in BASH to work. – davidgo Jan 30 '14 at 07:45
  • I clearly understood that there is no connection between rc.X and bashrc, but now i understand meaning of rc. rc means run commands, so just explained what could be .bashrc means. – user3134198 Jan 30 '14 at 09:02
  • @user3134198 - You pretty much nailed it `runcom` or `run commands` which Unix inherited from CTSS (Compatible Time-Sharing System) and since `.bashrc` is an `init` file for `bash`, you find `rc` tacked onto its hame and a dot to hide it. This is a common *nix convention. – Fiasco Labs Jan 31 '14 at 16:50
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I thought it stood for Run Command, but the guys over at linuxquestions have a couple positions on it.

So it's probably one of these:

- run commands
- resource control
- run control
- runtime configuration

Sorry I can't give you a more specific answer.

Matthew Williams
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  • Several positions because it came about before their time. From Unix. And earlier as in CTSS. After all, Unix was a play on the predecessor that seeded Kernigan, Ritchie, et.al., --> Multics. Computer Language and wordplay are the source for many names in Unix that Linux inherited. – Fiasco Labs Jan 31 '14 at 16:43