Is the zero exit status different to that of boolean logic when using the Linux shell?

Question

I understand that if I execute a command in the shell with the ampersand operators e.g. command1&&command2 and should the first command execute successfully it does so with a zero exit status.

Is this similar or different to that of boolean logic whereby 0 is false and 1 is true or have I understood it incorrectly?

Does the type of shell you use make a difference? I am currently running the Bourne-Again Shell.

Answer 1

Shell mostly is 0 to indicate zero errors and success, so yes in this sense it is true logically, unlike in many programming languages where 0 usually is false. Although modern languages tend to have distinct logical values of true and false these days.

Answer 2

The better rationale is that there is really only one 'success', but there are multiple reasons for a 'failure': file not found, argument error, computational error, etc. This was a convention of the OS, not just of the shell, in the interprocess communications - the return code sent by the exit(2) system call and received by the wait(2) call.