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I develop apps on Windows, but I use Linux to do lots of my work and automate cumbersome boring tasks where I can (there are still many more to be automated....

I develop apps on Windows, but I use Linux to do lots of my work and automate cumbersome boring tasks where I can (there are still many more to be automated....). I'm constantly amazed at what Windows dev people can get done without a programmable command line. I've seen several thousand line long cmd/bat files to do relatively simple things. They work, which is good. They are a lot of work to maintain though. I find z absolutely wonderful to take away that first hurdle of remembering folders. I can't imagine how Windows devs who don't know Unix can get around easily. They seem to though. Much must be memorised and some tools help. Powershell is getting better, but I think lacks (at least for the moment) the amount of existing code/books/links that shell solutions have. I sometimes hum my version of that old Sting favourite, Oh, I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien I'm a Linux dev in Windows 10.... I'd be interested to hear if there are better/equivalent searching tools easily available on Windows, but z works wonderfully for me.

Arnavion 6y ago
Windows doesn't lack a programmable command line. If the Windows devs around you are writing bat files, they need to be introduced to PowerShell.
- swiley 6y ago
  Powershell always felt more like a .net REPL than a normal shell to me.
mariusmg 6y ago
> I can't imagine how Windows devs who don't know Unix can get around easily. They seem to though. It's simple, for filesystem operations most Windows people don't use CLI. I use Total Commander for example, which has tabs and bookmarks to quickly navigate around the filesystem.
flohofwoe 6y ago
For shell scripts that are longer then a handful lines, python is the better alternative IMHO, especially if the scripts need to work across Windows, Linux and macOS. Windows has some nice tricks to connect the UI to the cmdline. For instance you can type "cmd" or "powershell" in the breadcrumbs-bar of an Explorer window, and it opens a terminal at that filesystem location (and the other way around, "start ." on the command line opens an Explorer window in the current directory. Historically, pure command line workflows are somewhat rare on Windows though.
CountDrewku 6y ago
Windows devs should be using powershell not bash.
vram22 6y ago
Stopping at "a Linux dev" would still be meaningful. Coz we are (aliens), in the quantitative sense.
blackrock 6y ago
Ugh. Powershell takes several seconds to load. Sometimes 5 to 10 seconds to load, which is forever, if you just want to run a simple command.

Arnavion 6y ago

Windows doesn't lack a programmable command line. If the Windows devs around you are writing bat files, they need to be introduced to PowerShell.

swiley 6y ago
Powershell always felt more like a .net REPL than a normal shell to me.

mariusmg 6y ago

> I can't imagine how Windows devs who don't know Unix can get around easily. They seem to though. It's simple, for filesystem operations most Windows people don't use CLI. I use Total Commander for example, which has tabs and bookmarks to quickly navigate around the filesystem.

flohofwoe 6y ago

For shell scripts that are longer then a handful lines, python is the better alternative IMHO, especially if the scripts need to work across Windows, Linux and macOS. Windows has some nice tricks to connect the UI to the cmdline. For instance you can type "cmd" or "powershell" in the breadcrumbs-bar of an Explorer window, and it opens a terminal at that filesystem location (and the other way around, "start ." on the command line opens an Explorer window in the current directory. Historically, pure command line workflows are somewhat rare on Windows though.

CountDrewku 6y ago

Windows devs should be using powershell not bash.

vram22 6y ago

Stopping at "a Linux dev" would still be meaningful. Coz we are (aliens), in the quantitative sense.

blackrock 6y ago

Ugh. Powershell takes several seconds to load. Sometimes 5 to 10 seconds to load, which is forever, if you just want to run a simple command.