What is up with that first line in the program?   #!/bin/bash It is magic. The Pound Sign (#) is a comment. The Bang (!) as the first character in comment, as first line tells the interpreter what shell to use to interpret the script.

Here you can find any shell script interpreter, such as these:

  #!/bin/ksh

  #!/bin/csh

  #!/usr/bin/perl -w

  #!/usr/bin/php

Alternatively, you can specify the shell on the command line. However, the one in the Pound Bang will override it:

  dlink@viddev1> /bin/bash talk.sh

Or simply:

  dlink@viddev1> bash talk.sh