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Oh My Zsh VS GitHub Codespaces

Compare Oh My Zsh VS GitHub Codespaces and see what are their differences

Oh My Zsh logo Oh My Zsh

A delightful community-driven framework for managing your zsh configuration.

GitHub Codespaces logo GitHub Codespaces

GItHub Codespaces is a hosted remote coding environment by GitHub based on Visual Studio Codespaces integrated directly for GitHub.
  • Oh My Zsh Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19
  • GitHub Codespaces Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-01

Oh My Zsh features and specs

  • Plugin Ecosystem
    Oh My Zsh offers a wide variety of plugins that extend the functionality of your shell, including git integration, syntax highlighting, and auto-suggestions.
  • Themes
    It provides a rich collection of themes that allow you to customize the look and feel of your terminal, making it visually appealing and easier to use.
  • Community Support
    With a large, active community, users can find a wealth of resources, tutorials, and support for troubleshooting and expanding their Zsh configuration.
  • Ease of Use
    Oh My Zsh simplifies the management of Zsh configurations through a straightforward installation process and easy-to-use commands for adding and removing plugins and themes.
  • Highly Configurable
    Even though it simplifies many aspects of Zsh, Oh My Zsh still allows for deep customization tailored to individual workflow needs.

Possible disadvantages of Oh My Zsh

  • Performance Overheads
    Using Oh My Zsh can slow down shell startup time, especially if many plugins or a complex theme are enabled.
  • Over-reliance on Plugins
    Users may become dependent on Oh My Zsh's extensive plugin system, which could discourage them from learning and understanding native Zsh scripting.
  • Potential for Conflicts
    Adding multiple plugins and custom scripts can lead to conflicts and bugs, making the shell environment unstable or unpredictable.
  • Large Install Size
    The framework with all its plugins and themes can take up a significant amount of disk space, which may be a consideration for users with limited storage.
  • Updates and Maintenance
    Regular updates are necessary to keep the system secure and up-to-date, which can be a hassle for users who prefer a 'set it and forget it' approach.

GitHub Codespaces features and specs

  • Instant Setup
    GitHub Codespaces allows for quick setup of development environments, enabling developers to start coding within minutes.
  • Consistency
    By using Codespaces, all team members can work in consistent development environments, avoiding the 'works on my machine' problem.
  • Scalable
    Codespaces can easily scale up or down resources based on the needs of the project, offering flexibility in resource allocation.
  • Integrated with GitHub
    Seamless integration with GitHub means that Codespaces takes advantage of all GitHub features like pull requests, issues, and workflows directly within the development environment.
  • Customizable Environments
    Developers can define the configuration of their development environments using devcontainer.json files, making it easy to set up tailored workspaces.
  • Remote Development
    Codespaces allows developers to work from virtually anywhere without needing to rely on the power of their local machines.

Possible disadvantages of GitHub Codespaces

  • Cost
    Using Codespaces incurs a cost based on compute and storage resources, which can add up, especially for larger teams or more intensive projects.
  • Internet Reliance
    Codespaces are cloud-based, so a stable internet connection is required. Any disruption in connectivity can hinder development progress.
  • Customization Limitations
    While customizable, Codespaces may not support all specific or advanced development setups or niche tools as effectively as local environments.
  • Performance Variability
    Performance might vary depending on the selected instance type and current load on GitHub's infrastructure.
  • Dependency on GitHub Ecosystem
    Codespaces are tightly integrated with GitHub, which could be a downside for teams that use other platforms or who prefer a more platform-independent solution.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers unfamiliar with cloud-based environments may face a learning curve when first transitioning to Codespaces.

Analysis of Oh My Zsh

Overall verdict

  • Oh My Zsh is generally considered a good choice for those who frequently use the command line, offering both convenience and powerful customization options. However, some users might find it to be overly complex if they prefer a minimal or lightweight setup.

Why this product is good

  • Oh My Zsh is a popular framework for managing the Zsh configuration. It offers a wide range of plugins and themes that enhance and customize the user experience of the terminal. It simplifies many complex tasks through its extensive set of features and is maintained by a large community, which ensures its reliability and frequent updates.

Recommended for

  • Developers who want to improve their command line experience with additional features.
  • Users who appreciate having a wide selection of themes and plugins to personalize their terminal environment.
  • Individuals looking for a community-supported and regularly updated framework.

Analysis of GitHub Codespaces

Overall verdict

  • GitHub Codespaces is considered a good tool for developers looking for convenience, consistency, and speed in their workflow. It's particularly valued for its ability to streamline onboarding and its seamless integration with GitHub repositories.

Why this product is good

  • GitHub Codespaces offers a cloud-based development environment that enables developers to code directly in the browser without the need to set up a local development environment. It integrates seamlessly with GitHub, allows for quick setup, provides consistent environments across teams, and is particularly useful for remote collaboration.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a cloud-based development solution
  • Teams working remotely who need consistent development environments
  • Project maintainers who want to simplify setup for contributors
  • Developers who frequently switch between projects and need quick environment setups

Oh My Zsh videos

You Really Don't Need Oh My Zsh And Here's Why (Rant)

More videos:

  • Review - Working with Linux - Terminal, Zsh & Oh My Zsh
  • Review - Uninstall Oh My ZSH Right Now And Do This Instead

GitHub Codespaces videos

Brief introduction of GitHub Codespaces

More videos:

  • Review - GitHub Codespaces First Look - 5 things to look for

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Oh My Zsh and GitHub Codespaces)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
0 0%
100% 100
Programming
54 54%
46% 46
IDE
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Oh My Zsh and GitHub Codespaces. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Oh My Zsh and GitHub Codespaces

Oh My Zsh Reviews

  1. Stan
    · Founder at SaaSHub ·
    Indispensable

    This has become an indispensable tool for me. One of the first thing to install on a new computer.

    🏁 Competitors: GNU Bourne Again SHell, fish shell

GitHub Codespaces Reviews

12 Best Online IDE and Code Editors to Develop Web Applications
Beginners who want to try their luck can use GitHub Codespaces for free with limited benefits, but you will have enough features to carry on. If you are a team or an enterprise, you can start using GitHub Codespaces at $40/user/year.
Source: geekflare.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitHub Codespaces should be more popular than Oh My Zsh. It has been mentiond 148 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Oh My Zsh mentions (74)

  • Installing Terraform
    To start this re-learning journey, I feel like I should start with setting up a VPC on my AWS account. I already have an account so I will not be writing about that. However, since I want to do all of this via IaC, I need to setup Terraform. Luckily for me, this is a new laptop so I have nothing setup on it, besides iTerm2. Btw, I am using https://ohmyz.sh/ for my shell, so shout out to that team. This is what... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Bash vs. Zsh: Key differences and when to use each
    Oh My Zsh is an open-source Zsh framework used to add extra functionalities for Zsh, turbocharging the entire Zsh user experience. Oh My Zsh’s extra advanced features cause users who frequently use the terminal to gravitate towards Zsh. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Switching from tmux to Zellij
    That's it! Happy CLI mastery with Zellij, Oh My zsh and Alacritty! - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • The easiest way to set up and configure your AWS CLI
    If you are using Oh My ZSH as your shell of choice, you can add plugins=(... Aws ) to your .zshrc / profile and besides having autocomplete for the AWS CLI you will also immediately see in the terminal window what is the current AWS profile you are logged in. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • My Terminal Setup for 2025 🚀
    ZSH and Oh My ZSH offer superpowers to your terminal thanks to its customization and wide variety of plugins. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

GitHub Codespaces mentions (148)

  • VSCode's SSH Agent Is Bananas
    https://github.com/features/codespaces All you need is a well-defined .devcontainer file. Debugging, extensions, collaborative coding, dependant services, OS libraries, as much RAM as you need (as opposed to what you have), specific NodeJS Versions — all with a single click. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • GitHub Workflows: The First Line of Defense
    For this week, our task was to automate everything: GitHub workflows for testing, linting, building, and error checking. Additionally, I set up a dev container that contributors can use in GitHub Codespaces for a fast, hassle-free setup. Finally, we were assigned to write tests for a classmate's project! - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Dear AWS, how do I build & develop purely on AWS right now?
    As an alternative for Cloud9, you can use vscode.dev, which runs VS Code in the browser or other alternatives that are more integrated and personalized like gitpod.io or Github Codespaces. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Ask HN: Any Recommendations Around Programming on an iPad?
    Check out GitHub Codespaces https://github.com/features/codespaces I have used it for learning C, Rust and Go. It even has a VSCode editor in the browser. It’s pretty easy to setup. Create a repo, add a hello_world.c, push the code, then in the UI press the green code option and select Create code space on main and then use the gcc from the terminal to compile... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Local development with Subdomains, Mobile Testing, and OAuth
    I updated the settings in my router to keep my IP assigned to my computer to avoid needing to update the DNS file. ### Remote Development One option I didn't try is doing all of your development remotely in something like Github Workspaces. From what it looks like, I think this would provide all the functionality needed except, you'd be dependent on internet and be locked into their pricing. I've worked in this... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Oh My Zsh and GitHub Codespaces, you can also consider the following products

Prezto - Prezto is the configuration framework for Zsh; it enriches the command line interface environment...

CloudShell - Cloud Shell is a free admin machine with browser-based command-line access for managing your infrastructure and applications on Google Cloud Platform.

Starship (Shell Prompt) - Starship is the minimal, blazing fast, and extremely customizable prompt for any shell! Shows the information you need, while staying sleek and minimal. Quick installation available for Bash, Fish, ZSH, Ion, and Powershell.

replit - Code, create, andlearn together. Use our free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages — without spending a second on setup.

iTerm2 - A terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.

StackBlitz - Online VS Code Editor for Angular and React