Shell Commands
You can execute shell commands by typing them at anywhere you can type a Qedit command. If Qedit determines that it is not one of its own commands, it assumes it's a shell command and tries to execute it as such. If the shell command matches an existing Qedit command, you must precede it by a colon (:) or an exclamation mark (!). Shell commands are executed by your default shell (the one configured in /etc/passwd for your user name).
If you want to enforce the use of the colon or exclamation mark prefix, you can enter Set Limits Colonreq ON.
Shell commands are executed by a child copy of your shell. Child shells cannot change environment variables in the parent's environment. To change the value of an environment variable, you must first exit Qedit.