I have started learning Linux (& Unix) in my Net Admin course, and I would like to be able to practice command prompt commands. I would rather not install Linux on my PC. Is there some lite program that can be used in Windows that can emulate the Linux shell? I don’t need the graphic interface. I downloaded VMWare, but after the lengthy download, I realized that I had to have Linux installed already on the PC. If there is no program that can run from Windows, is there a Telnet site that can be accessed anonymously that I can practice running Linux commands? I don’t plan on making any damage, just practicing simple stuff.
Cygwin is a unix-like enviroment that runs in under window that should do the trick for you. Take a look and see if it’s what you need. It has a command line shell (bash) and most of the normal unix utilities work, (ls, grep, sed, vim …)
Cygwin looks good, but it’s not, well, free. I would be interested in something I could download, even if only for a limited time.
No telnet sites out there?
Go to http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/ and click on the “Install Cygwin Now” link. They will sell you a CD, but you can download the whole thing for free, just like Linux (RedHat, the linux distro company, owns Cygus.)
It makes it finally possible to compile many neat free utilities under Windows.
Warning about current version, however. There is an error in it that caused the compilation of Perl 5.6 to fail (and probably other applications that use that library). Many a frustrated hour later, I found the answer here:
http://sources.redhat.com/ml/cygwin/2000-08/msg00256.html
I have Cygwin, too, and it works fine, but it’s not your best bet for learning UNIX for one big reason: It doesn’t include any man pages (UNIX term for help files: It’s short for “manual”). The cygwin utilities all have a --help option that gives a brief summary, and you can usually find man pages on the Web, but it’s a pain.
Chronos,
The newest versions do have man. I just downloaded the package from RedHat when I answered the OP. man is included if you install everything.
I know you’re looking for something “free”, but might I suggest purchasing a cheap cpu off eBay (something within $50-$100 oughtta be able to run Linux). Then, rather than spend all that time at Red Hat downloading, simply buy an installation CD with full docs and programs and such. Found that by simply having a dedicated machine I was able to pick it up faster and have some fun too.
'Course nobody had told me about cygwin at the time…
Thanks, MinkMan, I got it about a year ago. There’s a few other tools that’re missing for no apparent reason (like more), that they’ve probably also added sinse then. If I can get my network card to cooperate, I’ll see if I can DL an update tonight.