The version of /etc/bashrc contained in bash-1.14.7-13 is as follows: # /etc/bashrc # System wide functions and aliases # Environment stuff goes in /etc/profile # For some unknown reason bash refuses to inherit # PS1 in some circumstances that I can't figure out. # Putting PS1 here ensures that it gets loaded every time. PS1="[\u@\h \W]\\$ " alias which="type -path" RTFM. Searching the BASH(1) man page for the string "PS1" gets a hit in the INVOCATION section, which reads in part: "PS1 is set ... if bash is interactive, allowing a shell script or a startup file to test this state." Setting PS1 unconditionally, as is done by the current /etc/bashrc, breaks this facility. If it is desired to set PS1, when appropriate, to a specific string, this can be done with: # PS1 is only supposed to be set for an interactive shell. # Since this is the only easy test for an interactive # shell, it should not be tampered with. # if [ x${PS1+set} = xset ]; then # interactive PS1="[\u@\h \W]\\$ " fi Three reasons why a user should be able to use a simple test (namely, seeing whether PS1 is set) for whether the current shell is interactive: 3. ``stty </dev/tty erase ^H'' gets an annoying complaint if the shell is not interactive. 2. Operations such as updating the window title bar generate unacceptable overhead if done in a long-running script. 1. BASH(1) SAYS YOU CAN DO IT.
Thank you for the suggestion. It has been noted and will be considered for future releases of Red Hat.