The world is changing.. We see it in our hands.. We see it on our desks.. We hear it all around us..
Much that once was, has changed.. For none now bother, who remember it..
We are all familiar about “Skins”.Or by the many names it goes by.. Themes.. Widgets.. Etc..
But there is one obvious fact about all of them.
You’re eventually trying to make something look like something else, which it is not.
15 yrs ago it was windows 98 users applying skins, trying to make their Babbagian machine look cool like XP.
Now it’s the XP users trying on newer skins, hoping their 5 kg lappy looks better and a lot like Win 7.
Skins have become an integral part of anybody, who’s into even the basic computers.
And then there was Google..
With their awesome mobile OS,you-know-which, they renewed the skins-frenzy overall.
Now there are OEMs using the open source OS (cuz it’s free), loading the phones with their proprietary “skins”, which are lovingly referred to by users as “crapware”, just so that their phones look “different” and better.
Considering all such things happening around, the common fact reiterates.
Trying to make something look like something else, which it is not!!
A similar thought came to my mind the other day.
Windows is not Unix based, yet there definitely are people who’re so used to windows UI, that shifting to a Unix system is impossible.
Or there are people who love the CLI, but are forced to use Windows due to different reasons.
So how about if you were able to use, all(or most) of the Unix commands right inside Windows DOS itself?
Does this count as a “skin” too?? Or is it just that the “skins” are more of a UI based thing,
where as in this case, you’re not trying to change the UI but the opposite of it.. The CLI..
This is more like “unskinning” in that case.
That is when I came byย this.
A cool piece of software(or should I say Unskin) called “GnuWin” !
Its pretty much like a simulator which enables you to run Unix commands on Windows prompt !
No.. I’m not kidding !!
For example :
“ls” command is simpler compared to “dir” .
So if after installing this if you type “ls” at your prompt, it lists the files just as in a Unix machine.
Steps to set up :
1) Download the software from the following location :
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuwin32/
2) Install(Default Install)ย the software on your Windows machine.
3) Once its done, go to :
My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables
4) Edit the entry “PATH” and append the following to it :
C:Program FilesGnuWin32bin
5) Restart the command prompt and you’re good to go.
Cool, I will try this out