Brew bash autocompletion

ok, so I needed the git autocompletion script.

I got that from this url:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash -o ~/.git-completion.bash

No need to worry about what directory you're in when you run this as your home directory(~) is used with the target.

Then I added to my ~/.bash_profile file the following 'execute if it exists' code:

if [ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ]; then
  . ~/.git-completion.bash
fi

Update: I'm making these bits of code more concise to shrink down my .bashrc file, in this case I now use:

test -f ~/.git-completion.bash && . $_

Note: $_ means the last argument to the previous command. so . $_ means run it - "it" being .git-completion.bash in this case

This still works on both Ubuntu and OSX and on machines without the script .git-completion.bash script.

Now git Tab (actually it's git TabTab ) works like a charm!

p.s.: If this doesn't work off the bat, you may need to run chmod u+x ~/.git-completion.bash to grant yourself the necessary permission:

• chmod is the command that modifies file permissions
• u means the user that owns the file, by default its creator, i.e. you
• + means set/activate/add a permission
• x means execute permission, i.e. the ability to run the script

I don't know if this will populate in the terminal / advanced user account locations, but "The Way This Has Worked For Years"™ in Linux-land is that you must update /etc/shells with the path to the shell location, and then use chsh -s /usr/local/bin/bash username to use it.

Simply running chsh without modification to /etc/shells should cause an error indicating you've chosen an invalid shell, in case you're curious.

/etc/shells is a root-owned file, so you must use sudo in tandem with an editor in order to modify it. I hope you're comfortable doing that, else I would highly advise against trying out a non-default shell :).

Summary (steps):

• brew install bash, then
• sudo vi /etc/shells and add /usr/local/bin/bash to the list, then
• chsh -s /usr/local/bin/bash [your_username] and restart your terminal in order for your changes to take place