Terminal (application)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Terminal | |
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| Developer: | Apple Inc. |
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| Latest release: | 1.5 (133) / 2005 |
| OS: | Mac OS X |
| Use: | Terminal emulator |
| License: | Bundled with Mac OS X |
| Website: | apple.com |
The Terminal is an application included with Apple's Mac OS X operating system, and is also present in OS X's progenitor, OPENSTEP and NEXTSTEP. On Mac OS X, Terminal is located in the "Utilities" folder. It is a terminal emulator, common to Unix operating systems, that allows the user to interact with a computer through a command line interface.
The Terminal is often pointed to, to illustrate the difference between the "classic" Mac OS which was developed completely in-house at Apple and the newer Mac OS X which is based upon ideas from NEXTSTEP and a BSD Unix-like operating system, namely, Darwin.
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[edit] Using the Terminal
[edit] Activation
The Terminal application can be activated by navigating to /Applications/Utilities in the Finder and double-clicking the Terminal.app icon.
[edit] Default unix shell
When the Terminal starts up, it initiates a login session with a unix shell, a program that permits the user to interact with the kernel of the operating system. In OS X versions 10.3 and 10.4, the default unix shell is bash. Previous versions used tcsh as the default unix shell.
[edit] Changing the preferred unix shell
OS X version 10.4 provides, in addition to bash, three other unix shells: tcsh, zsh and ksh. All but ksh were available in previous versions.
To change the default unix shell on a per-user basis, issue the command
chsh -s /bin/zsh
to change to zsh (for example), or
chsh -s /bin/tcsh
to change to tcsh.
[edit] Apple's Command Line Primer
Apple offers a fairly extensive Command Line Primer that describes in detail how to use the Terminal.
[edit] Using Terminal with X11 programs
By default, the Terminal does not set the DISPLAY environment variable read by UNIX programs that make use of X Window System GUIs. Setting it permits one to launch X11 applications (provided Apple's X11.app, available as an optional package on the installation DVD, has been installed and launched). Other versions of an X11 system, such as XDarwin or Xorg, may also be substituted for Apple's X11.app; the latter is available via Fink.
In bash, zsh and ksh, (three of the four unix shells provided in OS X), the most simple way to do this is as follows:
export DISPLAY=:0.0
in tcsh (the other shell provided in OS X), the analogous syntax is
setenv DISPLAY :0.0
More elaborate versions of this are also available that take care of issues like assigning correct values for DISPLAY with multiple simultaneous users (a possibility thanks to Fast User Switching).
[edit] External links
- Apple - Mac OS X - Features - Unix
- List of bash commands for the Terminal
- iTerm with tabbed window support
Applications
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Utilities
Activity Monitor • AirPort Admin Utility • Audio MIDI Setup • Bluetooth File Exchange • BOMArchiveHelper • Classic • ColorSync Utility • Console • Crash Reporter • DigitalColor Meter • Directory Access • DiskImageMounter • Disk Utility • Font Book • Grab • Help Viewer • Image Capture • Installer • Internet Connect • Keychain Access • Migration Assistant • NetInfo Manager • Network Utility • ODBC Administrator • Printer Setup Utility • Software Update • System Preferences • System Profiler • Terminal • Universal Access • VoiceOver • X11
Technology & User interface (future features italicized)
⌘ • ⌥ • Apple Advanced Typography • AppleScript • Aqua • ATSUI • Audio Units • Bonjour • Boot Camp • Carbon • Cocoa • ColorSync • Core Animation • Core Audio • Core Data • Core Foundation • Core Image • Core Video • CUPS • Darwin • Exposé • FileVault • icns • Inkwell • I/O Kit • Keychain • Mach-O • OpenGL • Preference Pane • plist • Quartz • QuickTime • Rosetta • Smart folders • Spaces • Spotlight • Time Machine • Uniform Type Identifier • Universal binary • WebKit • Xgrid • XNU
