should I change the zsh on my profile now or leave it as bash?

Mbaldwin245 wrote:

...To tell you the truth I don't know what bash or zsh are used for...

A shell (bash, zsh others) runs in a terminal emulator (aka macOS Terminal) and the shell is a thin layer between the keyboard and the commands/programs you run while using the Terminal emulator.

The shell reads your terminal emulator keyboard input, parses the command, finds the command/program, and starts a subprocess to execute the command/program, then waits until the command/program exits. Then it just prompts for a new command.

Since the shell is just program, it can be replaced with a different shell. Some of the more well known shells used over the years have been sh (Bourne shell named after the author and considered the original), csh (C-Shell because of its C programming like syntax), tcsh (an improved C-Shell), ksh (Korn shell named after the author and an improvement on the Bourne shell), bash (Bourne Again Shell, because programs like word games, and jokes), zsh (I do not know its origins, but it is also derived from the Bourne shell line).

Apple will not ship the most recent bash versions because of some draconian Free Software Foundation Licensing issues. Since bash is getting old and moldy, Apple is switching to zsh which most of the bash features, plus some of its own, and none of the draconian licensing issues.

Based on what you have posted, I do not think it will matter to you, and I think it would be best if you just switched to zsh so that you were staying in sync with shipping macOS defaults.

I do not think you will really notice any differences.

Me on the other hand has been living in a terminal emulator command line since the '70's and I've gone through the sh, csh, tcsh, ksh, bash evolution. I find myself currently working on multiple Linux/Unix platforms, and in my case bash is the common shell, so I will not be switching, but I get paid to know about these things, and if I every retire and only have to worry about macOS, I'll most likely switch to zsh (or keep using bash via a HomeBrew install to have the latest). Again, my professional computer use should not influence your choice.

Are you a hard core bash user, with lost of bash customizations?

or are you a once in awhile Terminal user?

Hard core, then stay with bash, and maybe even use HomeBrew to get an udated bash.

Casual, switch to zsh. You will not really notice.

Some where in the middle, consider switching if you only use a shell on the Mac. If you do a lot of cross platform work in the shell and bash is the common shell, the stay with bash, and maybe upgrade bash using HomeBrew.

I am a hard core, cross platform (Mac, Linux, Solaris, AIX, Windows Cygwin, etc...) shell user, where bash is the common shell. I use a newer version of bash.

Based on your input here, you might has well not change frm the Bash to the zsh shell, and you can copy/paste the following into a Terminal window, followed by a return. It suppresses the Zsh notification that you see now, when the Terminal is launched.

echo "export BASH_SILENCE_DEPRECATION_WARNING=1" >> ~/.bash_profile

I would say switch. You will not notice any difference, and macOS will stop annoying you.

Where at exactly?

Which one will you be using?