Cygwin!

The most recent version of the Cygwin DLL is 2.6.1 . Install it by running setup-x86.exe setup-x86.exe (32-bit installation or setup-x86_64.exe setup-x86_64.exe (64-bit installation. Use the setup program to perform a fresh install or to update an existing installation. Note that individual packages in the distribution are updated separately from the DLL so the Cygwin DLL version is not useful as a general Cygwin distribution release number. ********************

Cygwin alternatives

  • MSYS2

  • MSYS2 is an independent rewrite of MSYS, based on modern Cygwin (POSIX compatibility layer) and MinGW-w64 with the aim of better interoperability with native Windows software.

    tags: arch-linux cygwin mingw32 mingw64 package-management
  • Babun

  • Would you like to use a linux-like console on a Windows host without a lot of fuzz? Try out babun!

    tags: developer-tools linux-on-windows terminal-client
  • Windows Command Prompt

  • Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd (after its executable file name), is the command-line interpreter on Windows NT, Windows CE, OS/2 and eComStation operating systems. It is the counterpart of COMMAND.COM in DOS and Windows 9x systems (where it is also called "MS-DOS Prompt"), and analogous to the Unix shells used on Unix-like systems.

    tags: command-line-interface command-line-interpreter command-prompt extensible scripting
  • gow

  • Gow (Gnu On Windows) is the lightweight alternative to Cygwin. It uses a convenient Windows installer that installs about 130 extremely useful open source UNIX applications compiled as native win32 binaries. It is designed to be as small as possible, about 10 MB, as opposed to Cygwin which can run well over 100 MB depending upon options.

    tags: cygwin developer-tools development development-suite mingw
  • Termux

  • Ready to go. Termux works directly with no rooting or setup required. At first start a minimal base system is installed automatically - you decide what to do next.

    tags: shell terminal-client
  • BusyBox

  • BusyBox is a single binary that provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android, FreeBSD and others. It was specifically created for embedded operating systems with very limited resources. It has been self-dubbed "The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux". It includes clones of netcat, httpd, init, grep, a dhcp client/server, tar, sh, ash, awk, cat, and many more utilities.

    tags: command-line-interface init linux-kernel system-administration system-utilities
  • MinGW-w64

  • The project's goal is to deliver runtime, headers, and libs for developing 64 bit (x64), as well as 32 bit (x86), windows applications using gcc-4.4 or newer versions.

    tags: Portable ada c-plus-plus compilers fortran
  • TCC/LE

  • The most powerful Windows console command line tools and batch scripting solution available. Create batch file commands and Windows batch files that you can use every day - for everything from launching applications to serious file management and scripting. Its the command line and console environment for programmers, operations and tech support personnel. Download today, and discover how our products can help you. Try our innovative real-time backup and archiving tools that provide continuous document protection. »

    tags: command-line console
  • PyCmd

  • PyCmd is a smart command prompt extension for Windows cmd.exe; its purpose is to emulate a few power features of UNIX shells (decent Tab-completion, persistent history, etc.) while remaining 100% compatible with the cmd.exe syntax.

    tags: command-line-interface replacement cmd-replacement system-shells cmd.exe
  • TDM-GCC

  • TDM-GCC is a compiler suite for Windows.

    tags: compilers debugger
  • unxutils

  • Here are some ports of common GNU utilities to native Win32. In this context, native means the executables do only depend on the Microsoft C-runtime (msvcrt.dll) and not an emulation layer like that provided by Cygwin tools.

    tags: unix gnu
  • Cooperative Linux

  • Cooperative Linux (short-named coLinux) is the first working free and open source method for optimally running Linux on Microsoft Windows natively. More generally, Cooperative Linux is a port of the Linux kernel that allows it to run cooperatively alongside another operating system on a single machine. For instance, it allows one to freely run Linux on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, without using a commercial PC virtualization software such as VMware, in a way which is much more optimal than using any general purpose PC virtualization software. »

    tags: port linux-on-windows linux-kernel