Making the Case for Nushell: A Modern Shell Alternative to Bash and Zsh
By
ravenical
4mo ago· 15 min readenOpinion
100/100
Golden Brown
Bagelometer↗
Front-window bakery material. Catches the eye, delivers the goods.
Score100TypeopinionSentimentpositive
Summary
The article makes a case for adopting Nushell, a modern shell that offers structured data output and better user experience compared to traditional shells like bash/zsh or newer alternatives like fish. The author argues that while there's significant inertia keeping people with familiar shells, Nushell's approach of treating data as structured rather than plain text represents a fundamental improvement worth considering. The post examines the current shell landscape, discusses why people resist switching, and presents Nushell's advantages including better data handling, improved user experience, and potential productivity gains.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledcan the state of shells be improved enough to overcome the inertia of sticking to what you know?
Nushell's approach of treating data as structured rather than plain text represents a fundamental improvement
After chatting with them, my brain kept bubbling away at the state of how folks were using their terminals
The lay of the land - Let's take a look at some of the offerings
Recently, I had a chat with some of my friends about Nushell and why they stuck with traditional shells like bash/zsh or the "new" hotness like fish rather than using Nushell. After chatting with them, my brain kept bubbling away at the state of how folks
