Last login: Tue 06 Oct 2026 on tty1
Archived edition.
$man 1 echo
Ten things the page says. Every one of them is on your machine right now — run the command above and check.
-
01
-E
disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default).[man]
-
02
If -e is in effect, the following sequences are recognized:[man]
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03
\0NNN byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits).[man]
-
04
\xHH byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits).[man]
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05
NOTE: your shell may have its own version of echo, which usually supersedes the version described here.[man]
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06
Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports.[man]
-
07
NOTE: printf(1) is a preferred alternative, which does not have issues outputting option-like strings.[man]
-
08
echo [SHORT-OPTION]... [STRING]... echo LONG-OPTION.[man]
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09
echo writes each given STRING to standard output, with a space between each and a newline after the last one.[info]
-
10
Due to shell aliases and built-in 'echo' functions, using an unadorned 'echo' interactively or in a script may get you different functionality than that described here.[info]
$run --yourself
Find out why echo is unreliable
There are two different echos on your machine behaving differently. This is exactly why scripts should use printf.
$ echo 'a\tb'
$ echo -e 'a\tb'
$ printf 'a\tb\n'
$ type -a echoWHAT YOU SHOULD SEEPlain echo prints the backslash literally, -e interprets it, printf does the right thing without a flag, and type shows echo exists both as a shell builtin and as /usr/bin/echo.
$quiz -n 5
Five questions, each one taking a term out of a line above. Ten points for each. Tap hear it to have a question read to you; answering plays the verdict.
QUESTION 1 OF 5
Which term completes this line from the page? “disable _____ of backslash escapes (default).”
From point 1 above.
QUESTION 2 OF 5
Which term completes this line from the page? “\0NNN byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 _____).”
From point 3 above.
QUESTION 3 OF 5
Which term completes this line from the page? “NOTE: your shell may have its own version of echo, which usually _____ the version described here.”
From point 5 above.
QUESTION 4 OF 5
Which term completes this line from the page? “NOTE: printf(1) is a preferred _____, which does not have issues outputting option-like strings.”
From point 7 above.
QUESTION 5 OF 5
Which term completes this line from the page? “echo writes each given STRING to _____ output, with a space between each and a newline after the last one.”
From point 9 above.
Answer all five to bank your points.
$play --chapters 5
Five chapters, three voices. Tap one to jump — the player at the bottom of the screen follows.
$tee --everyone
Know someone with ten minutes and a terminal? Send them today's page. This is the card that appears when you post it:
$su - operator
The Operator has a dispatch on echo(1),
and he files them for subscribers only. It is free.
Join the club, or read about
the series.
MOTD is a weekday reading of one manual page already installed on your own
machine. Every statement is quoted from that page or from the GNU info
documentation beside it, and every edition names the command that shows you
the source.
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