On Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 07:30:50AM -0500, Richard Owlett wrote: > 1. the immediate one being whatever shell MATE terminal uses.
Unless it's completely diverging from Unix standards, it should launch your user account's shell as defined either by the $SHELL environment variable, or by your entry in the passwd database. > Sub-question: When in an arbitrary terminal of an arbitrary > Desktop Environment, > how would I determine which shell is in use? In my experience, the simplest way to see what shell you are in is to run this command: ps -p $$ This command "works" (for varying definitions) in Bourne-family shells, csh-family shells, BSD systems, and System V systems. But you'd also be well-served to check out the $SHELL variable, and your own entry in /etc/passwd or whichever passwd database you happen to be using, and to understand what it means.
