# It Opens Stuff
That is, in your desktop environment. This will make *actual windows pop up*, with stuff in them:
```bash
npm install opener -g
opener http://google.com
opener ./my-file.txt
opener firefox
opener npm run lint
```
Also if you want to use it programmatically you can do that too:
```js
var opener = require("opener");
opener("http://google.com");
opener("./my-file.txt");
opener("firefox");
opener("npm run lint");
```
Plus, it returns the child process created, so you can do things like let your script exit while the window stays open:
```js
var editor = opener("documentation.odt");
editor.unref();
// These other unrefs may be necessary if your OS's opener process
// exits before the process it started is complete.
editor.stdin.unref();
editor.stdout.unref();
editor.stderr.unref();
```
## Use It for Good
Like opening the user's browser with a test harness in your package's test script:
```json
{
"scripts": {
"test": "opener ./test/runner.html"
},
"devDependencies": {
"opener": "*"
}
}
```
## Why
Because Windows has `start`, Macs have `open`, and *nix has `xdg-open`. At least [according to some person on StackOverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/q/1480971/3191). And I like things that work on all three. Like Node.js. And Opener.
Generated by dwww version 1.15 on Thu Jun 27 23:13:18 CEST 2024.