was trying to have shortest one-liner to create interactive shell on any flavor of linux. reference for shell shoveling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_shoveling ubuntu needed a different code type because of /dev/tcp net redirect not compiled in its version of bash. various references to recompiling bash; not acceptable. origin of benevolent dictator for life. Guido van van Rossum http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=106&thread=235725 ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ while read line 0<&2; do $ line 2>&2 >&2 this is related to the output seen upon running the code above on a ubuntu system and trying to Control - C to shut it down.- python does not like this bash code -. at some point this pesky code could be useful. like on a system that does not have ssh or netcat..