Scoop it up! How to use Linux CLI tools on Windows without hassle.

What is Scoop?

Scoop is a command line installer for Linux tools on windows using Cygwin as an intermediary. Requiring no admin rights and being 100% portable. It is for people who are used to Linux's CLI but are stuck on Windows for reason X or Y. It is especially interesting for people doing some coding and don't want the hassle of switching machines. Popular tools like wget, curl, vim and even compilers like gcc have never been easier to install on a Windows machine.

Installing Scoop

First and foremost you should open Powershell by pressing the Windows Key + R.
Fill in Powershell and press enter.

Now that you're in Powershell you can run this line to start downloading and installing Scoop.
iex (new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://get.scoop.sh')

Powershell will most likely prompt you to run this:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -scope CurrentUser
This command allows Powershell to accept Signed scripts that originate from the web.

Now that you Powershell accepts Remotely Signed scripts you can run this command again:
iex (new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://get.scoop.sh')

And there you go! Scoop is installed !

Using Scoop

First and foremost

Before installing anything else with Scoop you should install Git. Git is essential for Scoop to update itself, so let's do just that!

To install git with Scoop you'll have to use this syntax:
scoop install git

And poof Git is installed! Easy isn't it? If you're curious about where Scoop is installing everything on your computer you should take a look under: C:\Users\[user]\scoop

Searching for tools

To search with Scoop you'll have to use this types of commands:
scoop search [name]
You can also look for every package in scoop by omitting the last parameter:
scoop search

Troubleshooting

Windows doesn't use [Insert tool name] I installed :(

No worries! If you're not familiar with Windows, Powershell uses aliases to make Linux users more at ease while summoning it's own commands making it more confusing than appealing. To remove the alias, you should use this command command: Remove-Item alias:\[alias name]. Now it should work like intended! This alias will sadly reappear whenever you close & reopen Powershell. Luckily this can be fixed by adding the last command to your customized Powershell profile. More on that in an other article.

Now you know how to use Scoop! Hope this helps you out next time you're stuck on Windows ~
For more info head over to http://scoop.sh