read:tldr:ba9b7

The command "read -s ${variable}" is used in shell scripting or command-line environments to read input from the user while preventing the input from being displayed on the screen. Here is a breakdown of the command:

• "read" is a command that allows us to read input from the user.
• "-s" is an option or flag for the "read" command. It stands for "silent" or "suppress output". When used with "read", it ensures that the input entered by the user is not displayed on the screen.
• "${variable}" is a placeholder representing the name of the variable where the input will be stored. It can be any valid variable name in the shell script.

For example, if we have a script and we want to read a password from the user without showing it on the screen, we can use the "read -s" command like this:

#!/bin/bash

echo "Enter your password:"
read -s password

echo "Your password is: $password"

In this script, the user's password is read and stored in the "password" variable using "read -s". The input entered by the user will not be displayed on the screen. Later, we can use the variable "password" to perform further operations as needed.