YOSH command shell

The Project

Ever since I started using Linux back in 1996 I've preferred command-line environments over purely graphical ones. However, the current command-line interfaces (CLIs) are poor user environments and are seriously in need of overhaul. A lot of progress has been made in graphical environments but few of these improvements have propagated to the command-line shells. Perhaps CLI users are thought to be strict traditionalists, or CLIs themselves are thought to be inherently inferior and thus unworthy of updating: really, I don't know exactly why this is the case. But personally, I believe CLIs still offer significant potential advantages over GUIs, especially for users who want a high degree of control over their machine. I've thought for a long time about what a modern CLI should be, and it is my hope that I can make the CLI a good environment for myself, and something other people will use, too. I'd love to see it become a standard in Linux distributions, and supplant older shells in popular use, and help to popularize the idea of a powerful and comfortable CLI command shell as part of a modern operating system.

Meditations

New Shell Design

In order to reach my goal of a modern command shell as a friendly, interactive programming language with the whole system as the language's "environment", I've devised the following specifications for YOSH:

Design Discussions

See Also


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