zsh - Introduction

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# Introduction

Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) usable as an interactive login shell and as a shell script command processor. Of the standard shells, zsh most closely resembles ksh but includes many enhancements. Zsh has command line editing, builtin spelling correction, programmable command completion, shell functions (with autoloading), a history mechanism, and a host of other features.

## Author

Zsh was originally written by Paul Falstad `pjf@cts.com`. Zsh is now maintained by the members of the zsh workers mailing list `zsh-workers@math.gatech.edu`. The development is currently coordinated by Zoltan Hidvegi, `hzoli@cs.elte.hu`.

## Availability

Zsh is available from the following anonymous ftp sites. The first is the official archive site. The rest are mirror sites which are kept frequently up to date. The sites marked with `(G)` may mirror `ftp.math.gatech.edu` instead of the primary site.

Hungary
  `ftp://ftp.cs.elte.hu/pub/zsh/`
  `ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/packages/zsh/`
Australia
  `ftp://ftp.ips.oz.au/pub/packages/zsh/` `(G)`
France
  `ftp://ftp.cenatls.cena.dgac.fr/pub/shells/zsh/`
Germany
  `ftp://ftp.prz.tu-berlin.de/pub/unix/shells/zsh/`
  `ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/shells/zsh/`
  `ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/zsh/`
Japan
  `ftp://ftp.tohoku.ac.jp/mirror/zsh/`
  `ftp://ftp.iij.ad.jp/pub/misc/zsh/`
Norway
  `ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/unix/shells/zsh/`
Sweden
  `ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/unix/zsh/`
UK
  `ftp://ftp.net.lut.ac.uk/zsh/`
USA
  `ftp://ftp.math.gatech.edu/pub/zsh/`
  `ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/packages/shells/zsh/`
  `ftp://ftp.sterling.com/zsh/` `(G)`
  `ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/shells/zsh/` `(G)`

## Undocumented Features

Known only to the recipients of the `zsh-workers` mailing list.
To join the mailing lists, see section Mailing Lists.

## Mailing Lists

Zsh has 3 mailing lists:

`zsh-announce@math.gatech.edu`
  Announcements about releases, major changes in the shell and the monthly posting of the Zsh FAQ. (moderated)
`zsh-users@math.gatech.edu`
  User discussions.
`zsh-workers@math.gatech.edu`
  Hacking, development, bug reports and patches.

To subscribe, send mail with the SUBJECT `subscribe <e-mail-address>` to the associated administrative address for the mailing list.

`zsh-announce-request@math.gatech.edu`
`zsh-users-request@math.gatech.edu`
`zsh-workers-request@math.gatech.edu`

YOU ONLY NEED TO JOIN ONE OF THE MAILING LISTS AS THEY ARE NESTED.

All submissions to `zsh-announce` are automatically forwarded to `zsh-users`.
All submissions to `zsh-users` are automatically forwarded to `zsh-workers`.

Un-subscribing is done similarly.

If you have problems subscribing/unsubscribing to any of the mailing lists, send mail to Richard Coleman, `coleman@math.gatech.edu`.

## Further Information

### The Zsh FAQ

Zsh has a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) maintained by Peter Stephenson, `P.Stephenson@swansea.ac.uk`. It is regularly posted to the newsgroup `comp.unix.shell` and the `zsh-announce` mailing list. The latest version can be found at any of the Zsh ftp sites, or at: `http://www.mal.com/zsh/FAQ/`

### The Zsh Web Page

Zsh has a web page maintained by Mark Borges, `mdb@cdc.noaa.gov` which is located at: `http://www.mal.com/zsh/`.

### See Also

sh(1), csh(1), tcsh(1), rc(1), bash(1), ksh(1), zshbuiltins(1), zshcompctl(1), zshexpn(1), zshparam(1), zshzle(1), zshoptions(1), zshmisc(1)

IEEE Standard for information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) -- Part 2: Shell and Utilities, IEEE Inc, 1993, ISBN 1-55937-255-9.

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