If you’ve ever used Ruby on Rails you’ll be aware of the goodness that is script/console. The console lets you interact with your domain model from a terminal - no need for dedicated GUI screens or tools.

I was trying to find a neat way of running background jobs for a Rails app I’m working on.

I was rather pleased to find that this is well trodden ground. There are at least six solutions that can help me. Ah, the wonders of the code n’ share Ruby community…

This is the friendliest console-based-installer I’ve ever used:

I don't know about you, but I've always wanted a better, sexier shell for Windows. I've messed about with various DOS shell alternatives over the years, without settling on anything. However, today I think I've found something rather promising. It's called Console, it's Open Source, and you can get it at SourceForge.