What does "rc" mean in dot files

linux rc
bessarabov picture bessarabov · Jun 14, 2012 · Viewed 78.8k times · Source

In my home folder in Linux I have several config files that have "rc" as a file name extension:

$ ls -a ~/|pcregrep 'rc$'
.bashrc
.octaverc
.perltidyrc
.screenrc
.vimrc

What does the "rc" in these names mean?

Answer

Ribtoks picture Ribtoks · Jun 14, 2012

It looks like one of the following:

  • run commands
  • resource control
  • run control
  • runtime configuration

Also I've found a citation:

The ‘rc’ suffix goes back to Unix's grandparent, CTSS. It had a command-script feature called "runcom". Early Unixes used ‘rc’ for the name of the operating system's boot script, as a tribute to CTSS runcom.

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