PowerShell VS xonsh

I'll take this moment to point out that the PowerShell feels like a modern shell and is open source https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell (MIT license). If you want something more modern give it a try. Native support for JSON and XML and parallel streams.

That said, I'm glad to see another major release of Fish because it's for having option that we get evolution.

Download: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.4.5/PowerShell-7.4.5-win-x64.msi

PowerShell is so alien to an experienced bash/zsh/etc. user that it's an entirely different language not any kind of drop-in replacement. Its designers also refuse to add simple things to make the switch any easier (e.g. https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/issues/3316).

Not necessarily:

1. UNIX-compatibility aliases like "ls -> Get-ChildItem" and "cat -> Get-Content" are not defined in PowerShell on Linux or macOS. For a complete list of these, see the PowerShell source code[1] (look for "#if !UNIX").

2. A number of aliases from PowerShell ≤ 5.1 were removed in PowerShell Core (≥ 6.0), including the particularly annoying "curl -> Invoke-WebRequest" (conflicts with curl.exe) and "sc -> Set-Content" (conflicts with sc.exe).

[1] https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/blob/8ea1598964590b...

and do a no-install copy-paste deployment of powershell 7 and modules. (I'm not saying you should do this instead of using Lua, just that you can).

[1] https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases

msiexec.exe /package https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.2.6/PowerShell-7.2.6-win-x64.msi /quiet ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL=1 ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL=1 ENABLE_PSREMOTING=1 REGISTER_MANIFEST=1 USE_MU=1 ENABLE_MU=1 ADD_PATH=1

Also, do consider xonsh.[1]

It's a Bash-like shell written in Python. It has significant overlap with the awesomeness of fish, and has the advantage of being able to write your shell scripts in a Python dialect. So if you know Python, the mental burden is much lower.

On top of that, it's cross platform, since Python is. No WSL needed.

I switched to it in 2018 and haven't looked back. Originally it was just because I wanted a better command prompt environment in Windows for work, but I liked it so much I switched to it in Linux as well.

(And yes, you can type any Python statement right in the command prompt).

[1] https://xon.sh/

No xonsh? (https://xon.sh/) Seems to hit most of the requirements.

Been happily using it since 2018. It's great not to have to learn a whole other language just to do scripting.

Interesting thought experiment. Reminds me of my cousin's project Xonsh https://xon.sh/

If you like this sort of thing, I strongly recommend also checking out the xonsh shell.

It's bash-like, but Python based. Works on both Windows and Linux. Has several of the benefits mentioned in this article. It's really nice that I don't need to learn another language for shell scripting - its language is Python, with some extensions to make it less tedious (e.g. easily executing commands without using os.system or subprocess).

Been using it since 2018.

https://xon.sh/

Makim extends its functionality beyond conventional script execution by supporting various interpreters and shell languages, facilitating a versatile development environment. While xonsh is the default interpreter - blending the capabilities of Bash and Python for an enriched command-line experience - Makim's architecture allows for seamless integration with other environments. For developers seeking to leverage this feature, a foundational understanding of xonsh can be beneficial. Comprehensive details and usage guidelines are available in the official xonsh documentation.

xonsh – Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell