Why do you need the "./" when executing programs in the current directory?

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Why do we use “./” to execute a file?

It seems redundant and gets annoying after a while -- is there a way to change this? If not, can somebody explain the reasoning behind this?

Thanks!

Aren't duplicates flagged here (it does not appear as reson in the list). Should I ask this on meta? Okay - I will do so! — user unknown, Jul 04 '11 at 10:11

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 03 '11 at 21:22

6

You don't, if the current directory is in your path and there isn't another executable with the same name in a directory named earlier in the path. If either of these conditions isn't true, ./ effectively says "look here".

Although you can add "." to your path, it isn't advisable, since that opens the door for unexpected (or malicious) results if you execute a command from a directory that has executables that match the name of system commands.

answered Jul 03 '11 at 21:22

TomG

249

2

This gets especially dangerous when executing shell scripts with su privileges, since it fails to sanitize the environment beforehand. – Shadur-don't-feed-the-AI Jul 04 '11 at 04:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 04 '11 at 00:40

You do if your current directory is not in your path. If you ever log in as root or are a sudoer, I do not recommend you add your current directory to your path. Just put up with the ./

If you wish, make a directory in your home directory called bin. Then add this directory to your search path. It's a good place to put your general purpose housekeeping scripts.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 04 '11 at 09:31

0

isnt it much easier than running your program using sh yourprogram.sh or python yourprogram.py ?

answered Jul 04 '11 at 09:31

afbr1201

4,759

Why do you need the "./" when executing programs in the current directory?

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