Getting a Unix-like environment

Unix

Many of the tutorials on this site have binder environments available to be able to jump right in. But here are some ways to access a Unix-like environment on your system.

Mac or Linux

If you are working on a Mac or Linux computer, this is already taken care of and you can just do a search for “terminal”.

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Windows

If you are working on a Windows computer, you will need to set up a working command-line environment. There are many ways to do this, below are listed just two if you are looking for suggestions :)

Windows 10 or later

• If the operating system is Windows 10 or later, it includes a way to run a Unix-like command-line environment. You can find info on how to install that here.

Earlier than Windows 10

• If the operating system is an earlier version, one way you can set up a command-line working environment is through Git for Windows. Here are the steps that I followed when trying this with the version noted below.
  • Download the “Git-2.22.0-64-bit.exe” file from the Git for Windows download page (scroll down a little bit to “Assets”)
  • After it is finished downloading, run the installer by opening the file and proceed through the installation:
    • installing in the default folder location is fine
    • for “Which components should be installed?”, make sure the following boxes are checked: “On the Desktop”; “Git Bash Here”; “Git GUI Here”; “Associate .git* configuration files with the default text editor”; and “Associate .sh files to be run with Bash”
    • the shortcuts default location is fine
    • change the default Git editor to “Nano”
    • on the “Adjusting your PATH environment” screen, select “Use Git from Git Bash only”
    • just click “Next” on the remaining configuration windows, and “Install” at the final one
  • When the installation is finished, you should be able to open a terminal window by launching Git Bash from your desktop.