Microsoft And Canonical Partnering To Bring The Bash shell To Windows 10
Microsoft has become more focused on offering decisions and including open source software alternatives.
Today Microsoft declared that it is bringing the GNU project’s Bash shell to Windows. Bourne Again Shell(Bash) has long been a standard on OS X and many Linux distribution systems while the default terminal for developers on Windows is Microsoft’s own PowerShell.
.
"This is not a VM. This is not cross-compiled tools. This is native," he said. "We've partnered with Canonical to offer this great experience, which you'll be able to download right from the Windows Store."
Third-party tools have empowered this kind of thing for years, however, a direct partnership between Microsoft and Canonical should offer even more adaptability and convenience for developers who incline toward utilizing these binaries and tools.
In 1989, The Bash shell replaced the Bourne shell in Unix-based operating systems and has turned into the standard since on both Mac OS X and all Linux systems. It also supports .sh shell scripts. That means users will be able to bring their existing scripts over to a Windows 10 system, or write new scripts in a familiar language. It’s easy to learn, versatile, and its scope has spread all over the place but Windows, until now.
“The native availability of a full Ubuntu environment on Windows, without virtualization or emulation, is a milestone that defies convention and a gateway to fascinatingly unfamiliar territory,” Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said in a statement today. “In our journey to bring free software to the widest possible audience, this is not a moment we could have predicted. Nevertheless, we are delighted to stand behind Ubuntu for Windows, committed to addressing the needs of Windows developers exploring Linux in this amazing new way, and excited at the possibilities heralded by this unexpected turn of events.”
Bash will arrive as the feature of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer, yet it'll be accessible to Windows Insiders before that. And looking ahead, Microsoft says it might bring different shells to Windows after some time, as well.