?music? [Deep Dive]

[Console Foundations] [Getting Started with the Console with Jim Hoskins]

Hi, I'm Jim, and we're going to be learning about the console.

The console is just another way to interact with your computer.

You really shouldn't be afraid of it. You should just try it.

Delicious.

Anyway, with the console, instead of working with windows, toolbars,

menus, and buttons, you're just interacting with text.

You perform actions by writing commands,

and you get your information back from the computer in the form of text.

Why would we ever want to do this?

Even though it seems complex and difficult to use a text-only interfaced computer,

it's actually quite liberating.

That's because when you use the console, there's much more flexibility

and consistency than when you're using a graphical user interface.

Programs can be linked together to perform really powerful actions

that would be impossible to create using simple menus and buttons.

Why should we bother learning the console?

It's how we used to interact with computers, but now we have graphical interfaces

with desktops, menus, and windows.

Well, when you're programming or doing web development or design,

some of the tools you may use may not have a graphical interface.

These tools must run on the console.

And if you're not familiar with the console,

it will be a very frustrating experience.

Websites and web applications will be deployed on remote computers called servers

and most of the time, the only way to interact directly with these machines

is to use a command line over a remote connection called SSH.

The fact is, it's hard to avoid running into the console.

And why would you want to?

Once you become familiar with the environment,

reaching for your mouse to mess with some menu will seem like a big waste of time

when you could just type a couple of words and be done with it.

Now, I've been talking a lot about the console,

but we should get more specific.

Most operating systems actually provide a console or a command prompt

in some form or another.

Because it's just a way to interact with your computer.

To understand the console, is to understand your operating system better.

But there are so many different operating systems out there.

Which one should we choose?

Linux. Now, I hear you saying, "I don't use Linux." Hear me out.

You may have heard of something called Unix.

It's an operating system first developed in the 1960s.

It created a lot of great ideas on how an operating system should work.

More importantly, a lot of operating systems were created using the same ideas

and philosophies, and they mimic Unix.

Many of these are free and open source, unlike the original Unix,

and some are not.

Linux, or GNU/Linux to be more precise, is one of those open source descendants.

Now, why is Linux important to us?

The vast majority of servers on-line run some flavor of Linux.

Another operating system that is based on Unix is called Darwin.

Darwin is what powers Apple's Mac OS10.

That means nearly everything you learn about Linux will apply to Mac OS10 as well.

Now, there are some other operating systems like BSD and Solaris,

all of which share this common heritage.

In fact, there is a standard that these operating systems share with each other

called POSIX, or portable operating system interface.

This is a standard that makes sure that all of these different yet related operating systems

stay consistent to some degree.

So, that once you know one, you can use another.

This is one reason why OS10 is so popular with web developers.

If our apps are going to be deployed on Linux,

it makes sense to develop them in a similar environment.

Now, you could use Linux on your desktop to develop,

and many do--it's a great choice--

however, Mac OS10 provides a full POSIX compatible environment

and a finally tuned graphical interface to go with it.

Now, that brings us to Microsoft Windows.

Now, where does it stand?

Well, it's not a POSIX compatible operating system at all.

The way Windows works is actually quite different.

This makes Windows a less desirable choice when doing web development

because it's not compatible with the operating systems

that we're likely to use on her web servers.

Now, that's not to say you can't use it; you certainly can.

If you're developing with Microsoft technologies like the .net suite of tools,

you must use Windows.

Now, it has a command prompt and some of the basics appear similar

between Windows and POSIX compatible operating systems,

but those similarities are largely superficial.

Even if you use Windows as your personal computer,

it's still a huge value to learn to navigate Linux

because chances are, you're going to run into it sooner or later.

So, chances are you're not using Linux right at this moment.

So, how are we going to learn it?

Well, we've built something just for you.

Click the "Launch Console" button on this page.

It's going to open up a command line window to a Linux computer we set up for you.

This is a real computer running on the Internet that you can use to follow along

and experiment with us.

If you're using Mac or Linux or BSD or another POSIX operating system,

you can use the console on your own computer if you'd like.

Later on, however, we will be using some programs

that are specific to our flavor of Linux--Ubuntu.

We recommend that you follow along as well using the Treehouse console.

Go ahead and make sure that your Treehouse console window is open.

When you see the dollar sign followed by a blinking rectangle, you're ready to go.