https://kromg.github.io/tags/linux/Recent content in Linux on Lost in IT | KromgHugoen-usThu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://kromg.github.io/posts/the-disappearing-script-shebang-tricks-and-magic-numbers/Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://kromg.github.io/posts/the-disappearing-script-shebang-tricks-and-magic-numbers/<p>Open any script and the first line is probably <code>#!/usr/bin/env bash</code>. You&rsquo;ve typed it so many times it&rsquo;s muscle memory. The cursor lands, you type the shebang, and you move on.</p> <p>But here&rsquo;s a question worth pausing on: who actually reads that line?</p> <p>Not the shell. Not Bash. The <em>kernel</em>.</p> <h2 id="the-magic-bytes">The Magic Bytes</h2> <p>Ok, ok&hellip; that&rsquo;s not completely true. If you run a script specifying the shell you want to use, as in:</p>