Re: Weird grep behavior

Yes, by default grep uses basic regular expressions.
The dot means to match any single character.
Use man grep and see the regular expression section. 

As you've seen, 
  Use fgrep to grep for fixed strings (or grep -F)
  Use egrep to grep using extended regular expressions (or grep -E).


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in the Bronze Age - the only limits you faced were speed and storage; 
any other structural changes were just a matter of style."
[Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan]

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