The rc in .bashrc, .vimrc, .bcrc, .nanorc

If you ever wondered, what the rc in all the startup files for Unix application means, here is the answer:

The rc stands for run commands.

This conventional pattern in file names is believed to originate in the 1960s from the runcom facility at MIT. See also this quote coming from Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie:

“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.”

Links

  • [1] Wikipedia (EN): Run commands

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