Why Not Just Parse INI Configs With Bash? Shell languages such as Bash excel at certain tasks, such as gluing programs together or quickly automating a set of command line steps. In contrast to those strengths, using a Shell to parse an INI config file is a bit like writing a poem in mud, you might succeed, but the result will probably be inscrutable and your swear jar will be full! As this wonderful Stack Overflow post attests there are many different ways to parse an INI file in Bash, but few ...