What is Terminal for?

As the title says, what is the Mac Terminal used for?...or more specifically, is the Terminal something that an average Mac user will ever need to use? Thanks.

Here are some links that hopefully are helpful:

The Mac Terminal: An Introduction | MacApper
Top 50 Terminal Commands | Mac Tricks And Tips
25 Terminal Tips Every Mac User Should Know | Mac|Life

Word of warning...you can REALLY mess things up if you do the wrong things in "Terminal"!

HTH,

- Nick

Thank you.

wavinwayne said:

Thank you.

Click to expand...

You're welcome.

- Nick

I use it cuz I'm just faster with the command line than the GUI. I come from a strong Linux background so that helps.

The normal user would most likely use it for a special command or two or to work around some issue that the UI just isn't allowing them to do..

Regards

I've always been afraid of the Terminal, and after reading the linked articles, it looks as if I have good reason to fear it's potential. The last time I used the command line on a computer was back in the DOS days. I didn't like it then, and can't imagine using it now, except for maybe a special command or two, as Raz0rEdge mentioned.

Im not big on terminal but if a member that is UNIX based can give you a fix around then im all for it.
IE : I dont like dashboard and even when its not up the DAshboard client takes up a lot of memory. I Put it out there and McYukon found me a way to Kill the Dashboard and now im dashboard free...

One thing i will say is if you play and set something a certain way with a terminal command, make sure you have a way to put it back. After my play with it i now have a Terminal folder for the backward commands

Cheers

It can be very powerful and can make certain things much easier but my advice would be to not use it if the GUI does everything you need it to. If you feel like learning how to use it, that's great (being a big *nix nerd, I like to convert as many people as possible) but be careful.

vansmith said:

that's great (being a big *nix nerd, I like to convert as many people as possible) but be careful.

Click to expand...

And i read in another thread on terminal too that the best bet is to set up a VM or something so you cant bugger things up ?? Was i reading right ?? If so might have to find the easiest way to set up a VM then ... Somehow lol

That's my recommendation. OS X uses bash by default which is commonly the default shell in Linux distributions as well. Therefore, if you set up a Linux distribution in a virtual machine, you can fool around with Bash as much as you want with no fear that it will affect your OS X install. Now, there are some differences but for the most part, much is the same (or similar enough).