Why did I unexpectedly get the terminal icon in my dock?

Question

Volantiad Author

Level 1

10 points

Why did I unexpectedly get the terminal icon in my dock?

Hi there!

I don't think I accessed my terminal, and yet, I just noticed it in my dock. When I clicked on it I got this message:

margretcollins - bash - 80x24

Last login: Tue March 15 10:33:42 on ttys000

Margrets-MacBook-Air:~ margretcollins$

So, the name is mine and I think my mac is called "margrets-macbook-air." Not sure how to check that.

I did try to view the contents of a CD of medical imagery that is formatted in CDSView (which is only for PC's). When prompted to search for an app to open a file, I did search and went to the app store where I read about an app but didn't download it.

I know that ttys000 refers to the first terminal selected. However, I don't know exactly what a terminal is or how it relates to my mac.

Other than that, I haven't done anything extraordinary: just read email, some articles online, looked at my calendar, looked at Fitbit sleep data and that's it.

Does anyone know what causes the terminal icon to pop into your dock other than intentionally searching out the terminal and accessing it? Does anyone know if this is an indication of any malicious activity, i.e. is someone pretending to be me, poking around in my mac?

Thanks!

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Mar 15, 2016 2:23 PM

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Answer 1

sberman

Level 10

274,254 points

Mar 15, 2016 5:28 PM in response to Volantiad

Your Mac's operating system (OS X) is built on Unix. The Terminal app, which resides in your Applications > Utilities folder, is used to enter Unix commands directly.

One way to see your computer's name is through System Preferences > Sharing. The name you indicate sounds valid.

So it is likely that your attempt to view that CD's contents opened Terminal. I wouldn't worry about it.

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Answer 2

sberman

Level 10

274,254 points

Mar 15, 2016 8:03 PM in response to Volantiad

You said the CD was formatted for CDSView which is only for PCs. So if you control-click on this file to open it, you will see an "Open" option, but bellow it should appear "Open With ..." which should offer choices. It should also show that Terminal is the default application that would open this for you - the one associated with "Open".

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Answer 3

Volantiad Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 15, 2016 5:30 PM in response to sberman

Thanks, Sberman: I followed SP > Sharing and it is my computer's name. When I have more time, I'll load and open the CD again and see if I can replicate.

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