- What is a terminal?
- How do I open a terminal window?
- How do I use the terminal?
What is it:
The terminal is an interface in which you can type and execute text based commands.
Why use it:
It can be much faster to complete some tasks using a Terminal than with graphical applications and menus. Another benefit is allowing access to many more commands and scripts.
A common terminal task of installing an application can be achieved within a single command, compared to navigating through the Software Centre or Synaptic Manager.
For example the following would install Deluge bittorrent client:
To save a detailed list of files in the current directory tree to a file called
How do I open a terminal:
Alternative names for the terminal:
Common commands & Further information
The terminal (also known as shell and console) is an application in which you can execute commands directly. It looks like:
You can start the terminal from Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal.
The Ubuntu wiki has an article about the terminal which includes information on starting the terminal in Xubuntu and Lubuntu, and a basic overview of commonly used commands. It's recommended for reading as it includes much examples as well.
A Terminal is your interface to the underlying operating system via a shell, usually bash. It is a command line.
Back in the day, a Terminal was a screen+keyboard that was connected to a server. Today, it is usally just a progam.
You can open it via the utilities part of the apllications menu, or press ALT+F2 and type