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Create pwsh as a shorter name for calling powershell.exe #4214
Description
The muscle memory from switching cmd to powershell is a pain. It is made worse by the fact that it is much longer than typing out cmd or bash. Even with Windows Search in Start, it often picks up the ISE if you have been using it awhile, so typing out the full name is often needed.
A better name would be posh.exe or other valid extension. It is as long as bash and just one character longer than cmd. Posh has been the accepted abbreviation in the community for all things PowerShell so there is some familiarity there. I don't believe there are any conflicts with other apps that this would cause, but that would need some digging.
This could be achieved in two ways.
- Create a an official shortcut or symbolic link named posh that would reference powershell.exe
- Rename powershell.exe to posh.exe.
The former maintains backwards compatibility and allows the user to choose between posh or powershell.exe. Existing scripts not impacted.
The latter could help give more freedom to issues like #4199 and other POSIX proposals to how the shell is started. However, it is a breaking change and would need to be reviewed for the impact and the branding implication.
I think making an official posh shortcut is the best option with minimal impact. New documentation could give preference to posh as the way to enter PowerShell.
Activity
joeyaiello commentedon Jul 19, 2017
I would like a short alias too, but this is why we didn't get go with
poshwhen we first went out (we talked about it at length). Appears to be still an up-to-date package too.Open to other suggestions, but most of the obvious *sh ones have been taken. After the only wget/curl alias thing, I'd really like to avoid colliding with other packages out there, even if they're less common.
rkeithhill commentedon Jul 19, 2017
I'm not too crazy about this whole idea but how about
pwsh?RichardSiddaway commentedon Jul 19, 2017
I've never been keen on posh as a shortening of powershell. pwsh seems better but a quick internet search raises some possible issues. if we're going to do this I'd suggest as short as possible so what about just ps?
RichardSiddaway commentedon Jul 19, 2017
OK - forget that - I just realised ps is an alias for get-process. that would be too confusing
joeyaiello commentedon Jul 19, 2017
I'm getting strong deja vu right now. 😉
rkeithhill commentedon Jul 19, 2017
I appreciate PowerShell's readability (when not using aliases) so running
powershellworks fine for me.dragonwolf83 commentedon Jul 19, 2017
psis an existing command on Linux as well.Some other ideas are:
pscmd,psc,monad,psh,pshellThere is definitely diminishing returns with these names though on whether they really save anything or just add unnecessary confusion if they are even available.
iSazonov commentedon Jul 19, 2017
CoreSh,pcs,pscSteveL-MSFT commentedon Jul 20, 2017
Too bad mosh is taken. psh is taken. [pshell] returns many hits. Interestingly, a search for
mshon both Bing and Google bring up many hits for PowerShell (calling it Microsoft Shell), although there exists amshon Unix (perhaps not used much)iSazonov commentedon Jul 21, 2017
😄 S#, P#
125 remaining items
SteveL-MSFT commentedon Oct 27, 2017
Mark Kraus (@markekraus) has a nice blog post that captures the what and whys:
https://get-powershellblog.blogspot.sg/2017/10/why-pwsh-was-chosen-for-powershell-core.html
bergmeister commentedon Oct 28, 2017
Today I saw the first usage of
pwshon SO here although I doubt that the person knows about this thread...Use pwsh as cmd on non-Windows platforms
apjanke commentedon Oct 3, 2019
Can we get an official ruling on the pronunciation of
pwsh? The PNG spec includes a pronunciation in its Section 1. May as well provide one for PowerShell; don't want another SCSI "scuzzy"/"sexy" situation.Looks like "poosh" to me.
SteveL-MSFT commentedon Oct 3, 2019
Andrew Janke (@apjanke) the generally accepted pronunciation of
pwshisposhapjanke commentedon Oct 3, 2019
Works for me. Thanks for the official confirmation!
mklement0 commentedon Oct 3, 2019
As for alternative pronunciations:[1]
Pish Posh!
Poppyposh!
The Shell Formerly Known as PowerShell (TSFKAP in Georgian)
The Shell That Dare Not Speak Its Name (Because the Name of Its Executable is Unpronounceable) (preferred by Welsh speakers).
[1] Parody. Not to be taken seriously.
Cloudmersive commentedon Jun 12, 2021
Why was this never fixed? It is still "pwsh" in Mac/Linux and "powershell" in Windows - so broken
saschanaz commentedon Jun 12, 2021
Maybe because you haven't installed PowerShell Core?
rkeithhill commentedon Jun 12, 2021
Cloudmersive (@Cloudmersive) Kagami Sascha Rosylight (@saschanaz) is right. Here's why. There are two different implementations of PowerShell. The original "Windows PowerShell" that has shipped with Windows since Windows 7. This is powershell.exe and does not run on anything but Windows. It is built on the desktop version of the .NET Framework (Windows only).
Then there is the cross-platform version of PowerShell built on .NET Core that started life as "PowerShell Core" but has recently been shortened to just "PowerShell". It does not come with Windows atm. But it runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. You have to install it separately. This is pwsh.exe. On Windows, you will have both powershell.exe and pwsh.exe (if you install it) and they do behave a bit differently due to differences between .NET Framework and .NET Core. There are folks still using powershell.exe where the move to pwsh.exe would break their scripts. So we need both names.
Jaykul commentedon Jun 13, 2021
Can someone teach the bot to lock closed posts after a few months so we don't all get pinged when someone zombies them?
doctordns commentedon Jun 13, 2021
Well - it was never broken. PWSH.EXE and POWERSHELL.EXE are two quite different products and are not totally compatible. There are things you can do on one but not the other.
TL;DR: nothing is broken.
And I agree with Joel Bennett (@Jaykul)!
rjmholt commentedon Jun 16, 2021
I'll lock this issue. Locking all old issues is something that's been discussed before, but we have a few active old issues and personally it seems a bit heavy handed to me. Feel free to raise it in a separate discussion, like the community call or similar.
iSazonov commentedon Jun 17, 2021
We have GitHub Discussions now.