Open Source Linux System Shells
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System Shells for Linux
View 300 business solutionsBrowse free open source System Shells and projects for Linux below. Use the toggles on the left to filter open source System Shells by OS, license, language, programming language, and project status.
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PowerShell
Command-line shell and scripting language built on .NET
Powershell is a cross-platform, task-based command-line shell and scripting language that helps rapidly automate tasks that manage operating systems (Linux, macOS and Windows) and processes. It works well with existing tools and is optimized for dealing with structured data, REST APIs and object models. PowerShell was developed by Microsoft as a task management and configuration management framework. Powershell is designed to let you manage computers from the command line and improve the command-line and scripting environment. -
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zsh
Customizable command shell for UNIX-like environments
zsh is a shell probably most similar to ksh, but with countless enhancements and differences. -
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XMLStarlet is a set of command line utilities (tools) to transform, query, validate, and edit XML documents and files using simple set of shell commands in similar way it is done for text files with UNIX grep, sed, awk, diff, patch, join, etc utilities.
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Build Data Resilience - Take the Assessment TodayIs your recovery strategy as strong as you think? Take this quick self-assessment to check your recovery readiness and gain tailored insights. In only 2 minutes, you'll learn where you fall on the recovery readiness scale.
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CLISP is a portable ANSI Common Lisp implementation and development environment by Bruno Haible. Interpreter, compiler, debugger, CLOS, MOP, FFI, Unicode, sockets, CLX. UI in English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Russian, and Danish.
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Babashka
Native, fast starting Clojure interpreter for scripting
Avoid switching between Clojure and bash scripts. Enjoy your parens on the command line. Leveraging GraalVM native-image and the Small Clojure Interpreter, babashka is a self-contained and instantly starting scripting environment. Babashka comes with scripting batteries included: tools.cli, cheshire, babashka.fs, babashka.process, java.time and many more libraries and classes. Babashka scripts work on linux, macOS and Windows. Besides the built-in libraries, babashka is able to load libraries from source, tapping into the world of already existing Clojure libraries. Babashka supports real JVM threads and like Clojure, supports futures and dynamic thread-locally bound vars. Babashka features a built-in task runner which covers the most popular use cases of make, just and npm scripts. Babashka can shell out to other CLI programs like you are used to in bash. It goes one step further and offers seamless integration with other binaries using the pod protocol. -
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iSH
The Linux shell on iOS
iSH is an open source project that allows for a Linux shell environment to run locally on your iOS device. It does this through a usermode x86 emulation and syscall translation. With iSH you can run Linux applications and programs on iOS, access the Alpine package manager, and install programs with apk add <name>. iSH also features a keyboard addition that makes navigation a whole lot easier. -
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xxh
Bring your favorite shell wherever you go through the ssh
You stuffed the command shell with aliases, tools and colors but you lose it all when using ssh. The mission of xxh is to bring your favorite shell wherever you go through ssh without root access and system installations. Preparing portable shells and plugins occurs locally and then xxh uploads the result to the host. No installations or root access on the host is required. Security and host environment are a prime focus. No blindfold copying config files from local to the remote host. Following privacy and repeatability practices the best way is to fork the xxh plugin or shell example and pack your configs into it. Every xxh repo could be forked, customized, and reused without waiting for a package management system, xxh release, or any third-party packages. Five shells are currently supported and more could be added by the community. -
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Blur my Shell
Extension that adds a blur look to different parts of the GNOME Shell
Adds a blur look to different parts of the GNOME Shell, including the top panel, dash and overview. If you use Ubuntu, you may want to change the radius of the corner effect for Dash-to-Dock in preferences, else you may see unpleasantly mixed radii in your dock. -
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bash debugger
bash debugger
A gdb-like debugger for bash -
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Minimal Linux Live
Minimal Linux Live (MLL) is a tiny educational Linux distribution
Minimal Linux Live is a tiny educational Linux distribution, which is designed to be built from scratch by using a collection of automated shell scripts. Minimal Linux Live offers a core environment with just the Linux kernel, GNU C library and Busybox userland utilities. Additional software can be included in the ISO image at build time by using a well-documented configuration file. Minimal Linux Live can be downloaded as a pre-built image, built from scratch or run in a web browser by using a JavaScript PC emulator. -
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ShellCheck
A static analysis tool for shell scripts
ShellCheck is a GPLv3 tool that provides warnings and possible suggestions for bash/sh shell scripts. ShellCheck finds bugs in your shell scripts. You can cabal, apt, dnf, pkg or brew install it locally right now. ShellCheck highlights and clarifies typical beginner's syntax mistakes and issues that cause a shell to give a cryptic error message. It shows typical intermediate level semantic problems that cause a shell to behave in a abnormally and counter-intuitively. It can also discover ssubtle caveats, corner cases and pitfalls that may cause an user's working script to fail under probable future circumstances. ShellCheck.net is always synchronized to the latest git version, and is the simplest way to give ShellCheck a go. -
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bash-completion
Programmable completion functions for bash
bash-completion is a collection of command-line command completions for the Bash shell, a collection of helper functions to assist in creating new completions, and a set of facilities for loading completions automatically on-demand, as well as installing them. The easiest way to install this software is to use a package; refer to Repology for a comprehensive list of operating system distributions, package names, and available versions. Depending on the package, you may still need to source it from either /etc/bashrc or ~/.bashrc (or any other file sourcing those). If you don't have the package readily available for your distribution, or you simply don't want to use one, you can install bash-completion using the standard commands for GNU Autotools packages. If you find that a given function is producing errors or does not work as it should under certain circumstances when you attempt completion, try running set -x or set -v prior to attempting the completion again. -
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Extreme Ultimate .bashrc
Extreme ultimate .bashrc configuration file for Bash
Do you want a more robust experience from your bash shell? As a Linux systems administrator, I've been working on this .bashrc file for well over a decade. Over the years, I have searched through scores of others' .bashrc and script files collecting and improving on new ideas and features. This portable drop in bash configuration file can be used on any system anywhere you use a terminal. It will detect most settings on most systems and make sure your environment has every feature available automatically without any additional effort. Do you need a command line cheat sheet? Press CTRL-h for full color help! I think this is the most amazing, ultimate .bashrc file I have ever seen and wanted to share it. To install, execute the following lines in a terminal wget -O ~/.bashrc https://sourceforge.net/projects/ultimate-bashrc/files/_bashrc/download wget -O ~/.bashrc_help https://sourceforge.net/projects/ultimate-bashrc/files/_bashrc_help/download -
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fish
The user-friendly command line shell
Finally, a command line shell for the 90s. fish is a smart and user-friendly command line shell for Linux, macOS, and the rest of the family. fish suggests commands as you type based on history and completions, just like a web browser. Watch out, Netscape Navigator 4.0! fish supports 24 bit true color, the state of the art in terminal technology. Behold the monospaced rainbow. fish is fully scriptable, and its syntax is simple, clean, and consistent. You'll never write esac again. For those lucky few with a graphical computer, you can set your colors and view functions, variables, and history all from a web page. Other shells support programmable completions, but only fish generates them automatically by parsing your installed man pages. fish will delight you with features like tab completions and syntax highlighting that just work, with nothing new to learn or configure. -
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kube-ps1
Kubernetes prompt info for bash and zsh
A script that lets you add the current Kubernetes context and namespace configured on kubectl to your Bash/Zsh prompt strings (i.e. the $PS1). The default prompt assumes you have the kubectl command-line utility installed. Official installation instructions and binaries are available. Blue was used for the default symbol to match the Kubernetes color as closely as possible. Red was chosen as the context name to stand out, and cyan for the namespace. 256 colors are available by specifying the numerical value as the variable argument. Due to the vast ways of customizing the shell, please try the prompt with a minimal configuration before submitting a bug report. -
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TinTin++ Mud Client
A MUD client for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X and Windows
TinTin++ is a console mud client for any type of text mud or bbs. The mud client's main assets are an easy to learn scripting language, triggers, automapping, and a split screen interface to separate mud output from client input. Installation instructions for Android, iOS, and several other operating systems are available on the website. https://tintin.mudhalla.net -
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PowerShell open source cross-platform reimplementation. Works on Windows, WinMobile, WinCE, Mac, Linux, Solaris, etc... Provides a rich shell environment for wide veriety of operating systems as well as to provide a hostable scripting engine.
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FlashForth is a standalone Forth system for the Microchip PIC 18, 24, 30, 33 and the Atmel Atmega series of microcontrollers. A Forth system with interpreter, compiler, assembler and multitasker is provided.
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Extreme Ultimate Tmux
Portable tmux config with menus, app launcher, tray icon. No plugins.
Do you want the power of a fully loaded tmux plugin framework without installing a single plugin? One file. No plugin managers. No dependencies. No setup. Drop it on any machine and it just works. What you get feels like a desktop app: a menu system with submenus, a 21-app launcher, searchable help, a built-in scratchpad, a system dashboard, and a fully clickable status bar. All in a beautiful adaptive interface that auto-detects your fonts and scales from Nerd Font icons to plain ASCII on a TTY. The status bar knows when you are in SSH and moves out of the way. The clipboard works everywhere including over SSH. Every feature degrades gracefully. Nothing breaks if a tool is missing. To install: wget -O ~/.tmux.conf https://sourceforge.net/projects/ultimate-tmux/files/_tmux.conf/download Also includes: system tray icon (tmux-tray), terminal launchers for 5 terminals, and a WezTerm config. Companion: Extreme Ultimate .bashrc (sourceforge.net/projects/ultimate-bashrc) -
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Powerline Go
A beautiful and useful low-latency prompt for your shell
A Powerline-like prompt for Bash, ZSH, and Fish. All of the version control systems supported by powerline shell give you a quick look into the state of your repo. The current branch is displayed and changes background color when the branch is dirty. When the local branch differs from the remote, the difference in number of commits is shown along with ⇡ or ⇣ indicating whether a git push or pull is pending. powerline-go uses ANSI color codes, these should nowadays work everywhere, but you may have to set your $TERM to xterm-256color for it to work. If you want to use the "patched" mode (which is the default and provides improved UI), you'll need to install a powerline font, either as fallback, or by patching the font you use for your terminal. Alternatively, you can use "compatible" or "flat" mode. There are a few optional arguments that can be seen by running powerline-go -help. These can be used by changing the command you have set in your shell’s init file. -
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KonsolScript: Automate and Orchestrate
Embeddable scripting runtime for live behavior, AI, and automation.
KonsolScript is an embeddable scripting runtime for games, tools, automation, and AI-driven applications. Add a live scripting layer to any C++ application. Hot-reload behavior, patch running apps, and orchestrate AI workflows - without rebuilding or redeploying the binary. Ship once. Evolve forever. Key capabilities: - Embed into any C++ app with a single header - Hot-reload scripts at runtime without restarting - AI-safe: validate or reject scripts before execution - Orchestrate LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Ollama) in .ks scripts - Built-in: String, File, JSON, CSV, Math, Regex, and more - Plugins: HTTP, SQLite, MySQL, TCP, Redis, Crypto, JWT, Zip - Push behavior updates to remote instances over TCP Use cases: - Scriptable game engines (hot-patch rules mid-session) - AI event bridges (natural language to live app behavior) - Automation pipelines (CI, log triage, file processing) - LLM orchestration workflows Docs: https://konsolscript.sf.net/kookbook.html -
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Kobo XCSoar Launcher
a customizable boot menu for your Kobo Mini
Mainly this project aims at easing startup and use of XCSoar (see xcsoar.org) on Kobo Mini. But the scope of use should not be limited solely to XCSoar. The Launcher should be small in code size, reuse most of the original libraries, provide flexible configuration to any application that might be ported to the Kobo Mini. It supports customizable fonts, toolbox-pages, buttons (also graphical), labels, autostart and sleep timers. -
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Squirrel Shell is a cross-platform alternative to system shells like bash in Linux and cmd.exe in Microsoft Windows. It is based on scripting language "Squirrel".
