I have no idea what Terminal is. Do I need to know about zsh and bash, etc.? I've been using Apple computers for probably 15 years and have never heard of these terms.
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Historically, the command line interface provided a way to manipulate a computer over simple, text-based connections. In the modern era, in spite of the ability to transmit graphical user interfaces over the Internet, the command line remains a powerful tool for performing certain types of tasks.
The command line is one of the interfaces to macOS, in addition to the more familiar graphical user interface.
The command line is a quite powerful and cryptic approach to managing and troubleshooting a Mac.
macOS shares much with Unix, and Unix was originally used, managed, and maintained from the command line.
Various different command line environments are available on or available for macOS, and bash and zsh are two of those choices.
The command line can be used to script various operations, as well as other tasks.
If the graphical user interface does what you need, there’s no need to learn about the command line.
If you do want to learn more, there are various resources available.
Apple has available a command line primer, and that is the source of the above quote.
nakoma wrote:
Do I need to know about zsh and bash, etc.?
No ... but ...
You have failed to enlighten us what prompted you to ask this question. Obviously these terms came up in some context ... you left it to us to guess that context.
It's a way of doing things that the OS designers would rather you didn't.
It's also a way to get into serious trouble really quickly.
Probably patronising thing to say, but of you need to ask what it's for then you shouldn't play with it.
No, unless, as has been asked, you are being directed to use Terminal and a shell (bash, zsh, sh, ksh, csh, tcsh, ...) to solve some problem.
Or after 15 years you have decided to dig under the covers.
If there is no driving reason, then you do not need to learn the Terminal, as shell, nor the command line.
You can think of it like some other app you have no interest in, like Chess, or Garageband, or Automator, or Keynote, or iMovie, etc... If an app does not interest you, you can ignore it. The same goes for Terminal, a shell, and the command line.
I've been using Apple computers for probably 15 years and have never heard of these terms.
If you made it this far without any interaction with the terminal I would suggest it is not your bally-wick, and would pay it no attention. 😉
Bash and Zsh are a UNIX command interpreter (shell) usable as an interactive
login shell and as a shell script command processor.
You probably don't need to know, but you can research it if you want, terminal is just an application on mac to run commands, it's the mac equivalent to windows command prompt
I have no idea what Terminal is. Do I need to know about zsh and bash, etc.?
