Updated on December 10, 2021
Earlier this week, Microsoft released at its Build 2016 keynote some big news for developers. Microsoft will be adding the Bash shell to Windows 10. Not a hoax, dream, or a virtual machine, but a native version of the Linux command-line interface. The Bash shell is being created by Canonical (of Ubuntu fame), and will be available with this summer’s “Anniversary Update” of Windows 10.
This move keeps with Microsoft’s recent increased support for open source/Linux, but is the biggest move yet. Presumably, it’s part of an effort to keep developers from switching to Macs running OS X or to traditional Linux-run distributions. Still, including command-line tools and Linux environment for developers will make things more convenient.
If wondering, this isn’t aimed at non-developer end users of traditional Linux distros, though they’ll probably benefit in the long run, too. Those looking to run Linux (and aren’t non-technical/non-developer computer users) will still need a traditional distribution such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu to install.
As for those joking about this “finally” being “the year of the Linux desktop,” there’s already Chromebooks running Chrome OS for that.
