why does true means false in bash?

Asked Oct 18 '21 at 20:50

Active Oct 18 '21 at 20:55

Viewed 33 times

Decisions with unexpected results

if [ false ]
then
  echo true
else
  echo false
fi

if [[ false ]]
then
  echo true
else
  echo false
fi

if [[ false -eq true ]]
then
  echo true
else
  echo false
fi

All decisions return true when logically they should return false!

Why?

edited Oct 18 '21 at 20:55

asked Oct 18 '21 at 20:50

programmer

See https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2158 and https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2309 – mkrieger1 Oct 18 '21 at 20:55
Also, see my answer to [this Superuser question](https://superuser.com/questions/1400335/how-does-bash-test-false). – Gordon Davisson Oct 18 '21 at 23:31
What you want is `if false ...`. In your examples you proof only the existence of text. – Wiimm Oct 19 '21 at 09:40

why does true means false in bash?

0 Answers0