bashbashrccommand-line-interfaceUbuntuubuntu-12.04
I set up an Ubuntu 12 server (on rackspace cloud using their preconfigured image) and created a non-root user. When I log in as the standard user, pressing [TAB] at the terminal outputs an actual tab and pressing [UP] outputs ^[[A . If I log in as root however, [UP] enters my last command and [TAB] autocompletes.
The .bashrc files look exactly the same between the two users. I really don't know where else to look.
I can give you two options. Either of which can be placed in your ~/.bash_profile.
Bash uses a variable $FIGNORE which defines any suffixes that auto-completion will ignore. There seems to be a catch though, in that it prefixes any value with *.. So a setting of:
export FIGNORE=.svn
Will only ignore directories that have something before the period. And:
export FIGNORE=svn
Will ignore .svn directories and anything else that ends in .svn.
Caveat emptor.
You can prevent all hidden files and directories from being included in auto-completion:
bind 'set match-hidden-files off'
But you might not find this suitable.
Best Answer
As per request posted as reply: Check /etc/passwd if that user has /bin/bash as shell and not something else.