Installing Programs on PC/Mac 💻

Whether you're a permanent member of staff or a contractor, if you're like most of us tech types you want your specific programs you like installed on your machine and not how IT gave it to you.

Often if you can't use your own kit the lovely people on the IT Service Desk will have also kindly locked your computer down to the point of it being almost useless. Well comrades there is a way around all this and you may also like it quite a lot!?

For Windows - open powershell and run the below;

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -scope CurrentUser

iwr -useb get.scoop.sh | iex

For Mac - open terminal and run the below;

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Both these tools are quite similar, they install programs via the terminal with just a short typed expression. Its quicker than going to the appropriate website to find the installer, and because it installs (usually a portable version) to your home folder it doesn't require admin permissions to install or run these applications 😏.

Scoop - a few examples;

scoop install aria2 whatsapp 7zip spotify (chain >1 together like this)
scoop install telegram (for just one program)
scoop uninstall 7zip (to remove an application)
scoop add bucket extras (you gotta do this once and its THE most useful bucket!)
scoop help (for a list of commands)
scoop update (update scoop)
scoop update * (update all your installed apps in one command!)

Brew - a few examples;

brew cask install aria2 whatsapp p7zip spotify
brew cask install telegram
brew remove p7zip
brew update (update brew)
brew upgrade (update all your installed apps in one command!)
brew search java

Or install a specific version of java using brew (very useful if you're using something like Talend!) - scoop is a less powerful here 😔

brew tap caskroom/versions
brew search java
brew cask install java6

There you go - your new personal or work laptop setup and ready to use in probably about 1 minute! And a very fancy looking terminal that will no doubt attract some ooohs and ahhhs from passers-by. Much to the confusion of the IT Service Desk 😉.

Documentation:

Windows - Scoop.sh
Mac - Brew