You Should Learn How to use the Terminal in Linux

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:10:31 +0100

Useful Links
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Learning Bash

Learning Bash: https://linuxhandbook.com/bash/

What dose this bash Code: https://explainshell.com/

Basics about Terminals: https://linuxcommand.org/lc3_learning_the_shell.php

Bash Youtube Series for Beginers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXohpTNNP8A&list=PL3cu45aM3C2A-hhXVkOSXxKku1IgPdL6L

Terminal Emulator examples

https://konsole.kde.org/

https://gnome-terminator.org/

https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/

https://gnunn1.github.io/tilix-web/

https://www.waveterm.dev/

Terminal Shells

https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/

https://fishshell.com/

https://linux.die.net/man/1/dash

https://www.zsh.org/

Forewords
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This will be less of a guide and more of a collection of tips where you can learn how to use a Terminal. Bash or programming itself is not something that you simply explain, you only learn it if you actually work with it. So I can explain as much as I want, if you don’t use it you will never learn it.

Nevertheless, I will roughly explain the basics of what a CLI is, what a shell is and also what a terminal emulator is.

The three questions I want to explain
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What is an Terminal Emulator?
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Let’s start with what we see directly when we talk about a terminal. This black window with text inside is the so-called terminal interface, it is also called a terminal emulator because it is a program that behaves like a terminal but is a GUI. I will explain what a GUI is when I get to the CLI question.

The purpose of a terminal is to provide a text-based interface that allows users to interact with their computer’s operating system by typing commands. These are used when an OS does not have a desktop but you still need to interact with the OS.

This is often the case with servers to save resources and allow them to be managed remotely without having to transfer a desktop over the Network. This is done via SSH. Which in turn saves bandwidth.

In linux, these terminals are often preferred to graphical programs if you need to make settings on the OS that go beyond graphical menus. Since these commands are identical for all Linux distros, it is also easier to write scripts or solve problems. This is why you often see solutions in forums that are solved with a terminal.

Windows and Mac OS also use terminals and they are often used when you need to make settings on the OS.

As you can see, the terminal is very powerful and should not be seen as an annoyance but as a powerful tool that can help you.

What is a CLI?
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Now that we know what exactly a terminal is, let’s move on to the CLI, the command line interface. It can be partly derived from before but a CLI is pure text there are no graphics that visualize anything. That’s what a GUI is for, the graphical user interface. This displays everything with images, text etc. That would be e.g. browsers or games.

What is a Shell?
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The shell has not been mentioned yet, except for Bash but not the fact that it is a shell, so what is a shell?

In Bash we enter commands, e.g. pwd to display the current directory we are in. Of course the command pwd itself tells a PC nothing because it thinks in machine language. In other words, the shell translates the command for the PC. That is not 100% accurate but is better to understand what a shell even is.

It is therefore like a programming language, which is why there are several shells, for example bash, dash, fish or zsh.

They all work very similarly but have different advantages and disadvantages. Which you can read about here.

https://cyberpanel.net/blog/6-types-of-shells-in-linux

However, I recommend using bash as it is the standard.

How do you learn bash and so on?
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As mentioned at the beginning, just use it and read up on it if you get stuck.

Good commands to find out what a command does are:

tldr

man

for example:

man pwd

tldr pwd

These commands show you exactly what pwd does or how to use it. man is more detailed while tldr shows a short summary of commands that are useful.

Good learning materials are described above, so my tip is to install Linux in a virtual machine, be it with Virtual Box, and simply test out the terminal.

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Services from XenoElectronics
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If you need help with your projects or with open source software. Take a look at our contact page and let us know what you need. We will help you to realize your projects.

https://xenoelectronics.com/contact/

Open source support & coffee fund
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You Should Learn How to use the Terminal in Linux

Useful Links #

Forewords #

The three questions I want to explain #

What is an Terminal Emulator? #

What is a CLI? #

What is a Shell? #

How do you learn bash and so on? #

Services from XenoElectronics #

Open source support & coffee fund #