Steve Litt writes: > [slitt@mydesk ~]$ "cat -n" /etc/fstab | cut -b 1-20 | head -n5
> bash: cat -n: command not found
> [slitt@mydesk ~]$ "cat -n /etc/fstab" | cut -b 1-20 | head -n5
> bash: cat -n /etc/fstab: No such file or directory
> [slitt@mydesk ~]$
Different code paths within Bash. When there is a "/" in the command
name, that is a file that has to exist by that exact name (the file name
can be relative, though). When there is no "/", then and only then the
command is searched along $PATH, and if it is not found there, the error
message is different from the other case.