TRUE(1POSIX)

📦 version 2017a, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

🌸 TRUE(1POSIX) 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to the POSIX Programmer's Manual — this is the page for true, and yes, it's literally the shortest bop in the whole manual. 💅

✨ PROLOG ✨

so like, heads up first 🫶 — this page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (so go peek at the corresponding Linux manual page for the tea on Linux behavior), or honestly the interface may not be implemented on Linux at all. no cap.

💖 NAME 💖

true — return true value. that's it. that's the whole job. iconic behavior honestly.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

true

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

The true utility shall return with exit code zero. it shows up, says "yes", and leaves. main character energy. ✨

🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

None. literally not a single one. we love a low-maintenance queen.

🌈 OPERANDS 🌈

None. nada. zero. she needs nothing from you.

💜 STDIN 💜

Not used. she does not want your input bestie 😭

🍓 INPUT FILES 🍓

None.

🧚 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🧚

None. she is not reading your env, she is not checking your vars, she is simply vibing.

⭐ ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS ⭐

Default.

🔥 STDOUT 🔥

Not used. she does not speak. 🤐

💀 STDERR 💀

Not used. she does not complain either. the emotional maturity.

🙈 OUTPUT FILES 🙈

None.

👑 EXTENDED DESCRIPTION 👑

None. there is no extended lore. the lore is one line.

💅 EXIT STATUS 💅

Zero. always zero. that's the whole personality. 0 and out. ✨

🌸 CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS 🌸

None.

okay so the next few sections are the informative ones — like, they're for your enrichment, not for enforcement 💖

🫶 APPLICATION USAGE 🫶

This utility is typically used in shell scripts, just like the EXAMPLES section shows you down below. also, tiny pro tip from the manual itself: the special built-in utility : is sometimes more efficient than true. so like, if you're being extra about efficiency, : is right there. iykyk.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

This command is executed forever:

while true
do
    command
done

bestie that is an infinite loop. it will not stop. it will not get tired. it will simply keep going until you or the universe intervene. 🌀

💜 RATIONALE 💜

so why does true even exist when the shell special built-in : does basically the same thing? great question, love that for you. The true utility has been retained in this volume of POSIX.1‐2017 — even though : provides similar functionality — because true is widely used in historical scripts and it's less cryptic to novice script readers. basically she's the friendly, readable version. accessibility queen. 👑

🦋 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 🦋

None. she's staying exactly as she is. no rebrand, no era change.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

  • Section 2.9, Shell Commands
  • false

(the sibling. the other half. the no to her yes 🥲)

okay this part is the legal bit so we're keeping it fully intact, no edits, no vibes, just facts:

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this one came from IEEE/The Open Group, dated 2017, and it goes by TRUE(1POSIX). one command, zero options, infinite vibes. periodt. 💖✨

📦 where this page comes from