windows shell

Shell (~bash) - Windows

Every post so far has been a shell trick, and they all say they work on Windows. What am I smoking?

There are several ways to get a decent (though still not first class) shell on Windows. You owe it to yourself to use at least one of them.

git-bash

Install yourself some msysgit, or better yet, github for windows or even git extensions.

Any of these will get you a pretty full-featured bash. The latter two also come with a pretty nice git gui.

cygwin

Cygwin: Get that linux feeling on Windows.

A layer on top of Windows that can act as a linux API.

If you’re a linux geek and you’re stuck on Windows, check this thing out. You can buy me beer later. You’re welcome.

gow

Gnu-On-Windows.

The (not-so) new kid on the block.

A lightweight version of cygwin. Really, just a bunch of the gnu binaries (think ls, find, grep, gzip, etc.) in a simple installer.

Yes, there are others, and oh yeah, powershell, but I’m not going to talk about those. If you’d like to, just let me know.

Published: June 14 2012

Author: jonfuller