Windows Doesn’t Have a Shell
Ξ June 13th, 2009 | → | ∇ Tools |
Being a Linux fan doesn’t mean that all my work gets done in Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora or Suse. Most of the times a simple execution of the Virtual Box is enough to write that document in Word or prepare that presentation in Powerpoint. But some times, work demands a true change of pace and there I go back to Windows (usually the stable XP version, available in any dual boot machine near you…). For example when you need to use Microsoft Visual Studio, DOORS (a requirements management system, for those how never has the pleasure) or even Enterprise Architect, you’ll need the good ol’ Windows operating system.
This is not a complaint about developing software in a Windows environment, but there are somethings you grow accustomed after a while developing in Linux. For me the greatest difference is the shell, or the lack of it in Windows. The shell is my favorite tool to inspect the details of my build artifacts.
I make a few searches on the web but couldn’t find a real replacement for the simple bash shell available at any basic Linux system. There are some possibilities, but none of them are the same as running the “real thing”:
- install Cygwin
you might have this already installed if you need an XServer to run remote DISPLAY applications, although XMing is a better (lighter) choice for that matter
- install andLinux, but I felt the system performance degrading by the minute
- install Portable Ubuntu [1,2] (my favorite choice!)
