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Comment by richbell | Hacker News Reader

I am Microsoft hater. I cannot stand Windows and only use Linux.

PowerShell blows bash out of the water. I love it.

except for the fact that it is slower than hell and the syntax is nuts. I don't really understand the comparison, bash is basically just command glue for composing pipelines and pwsh is definitely more of a full-fledged language... but to me, I use bash because its quick and dirty and it fits well with the Unix system.

If I wanted the features that pwsh brings I would much rather just pick a language like Golang or Python where the experience is better and those things will work on any system imaginable. Whereas pwsh is really good on windows for specifically administrative tasks.

The fact that it is "basically just command glue for composing pipelines" makes it even more regrettable that it takes more knowledge and mental focus to avoid shooting my foot off in bash than it does in any other programming language I use.

If you're trying to write a full fledged program in it, it's going to be a pain as there are only strings (and arrays, I think). Bash is for scripting. If you have complex logic to be done, use another programming language like perl, ruby, python, $YOUR_PREFERRED_ONE,...

You’re arguing that the power of PowerShell is pointless because you’ve resorted to alternatives to bash… because it’s not good enough for common scenarios.

This is Stockholm Syndrome.

You’ve internalised your limitations and have grown to like them.

No. bash as a shell is for interactive use or for automating said interactions. I want the computer to do stuff. The “everything is a file” and text oriented perspective in the unix world is just one model and bash is very suitable for it. Powershell is another model, just like lisp and smalltalk. I’m aware of the limitations of bash, but at the end of the day, it gets the job done and easily at that.

I’m curious. How useful is Powershell outside of a windows environment? I use it on Windows since much of the admin side of things requires it.

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