Question

I have a problem with echo in my script:

echo -n "Some string..."

prints

-n Some string...

and moves to the next line. In the console it’s working correcly without newline:

Some string...

Answer 1

There are multiple versions of the echo command, with different behaviors. It’s often built into the shell. If it isn’t, echo will typically invoke /bin/echo or /usr/bin/echo, which itself can be from any of a number of implementations.

Apparently the shell used for your script uses a version that doesn’t recognize -n.

The printf command has much more consistent behavior. echo is fine for simple things like echo hello, but I suggest using printf for anything more complicated.

What system are you on, and what shell does your script use?