Comparing
grep '.*[s]' file
with
grep .*[s] file
Why do you need quotation marks to let this work properly? In the second case, grep seems trying to inspect every file with a period.
command linegrepquotingshell
Comparing
grep '.*[s]' file
with
grep .*[s] file
Why do you need quotation marks to let this work properly? In the second case, grep seems trying to inspect every file with a period.
Best Answer
Quotes (either single or double) around an argument inhibit glob expansion.
Your first example passes a Regular Expression as an argument to
grep
. Your second example contains a glob pattern which the shell itself expands, passing filenames that fit that pattern as arguments togrep
.