This course will be retired on March 4, 2019. We recommend "Introduction to the Terminal" for up-to-date content.
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The console is a text-based interface to your computer. It allows you to interact with files, folders and programs using text commands instead of windows, buttons and menus.
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?music? [Deep Dive]
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[Console Foundations] [Getting Started with the Console with Jim Hoskins]
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Hi, I'm Jim, and we're going to be learning about the console.
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The console is just another way to interact with your computer.
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You really shouldn't be afraid of it. You should just try it.
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Delicious.
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Anyway, with the console, instead of working with windows, toolbars,
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menus, and buttons, you're just interacting with text.
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You perform actions by writing commands,
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and you get your information back from the computer in the form of text.
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Why would we ever want to do this?
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Even though it seems complex and difficult to use a text-only interfaced computer,
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it's actually quite liberating.
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That's because when you use the console, there's much more flexibility
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and consistency than when you're using a graphical user interface.
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Programs can be linked together to perform really powerful actions
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that would be impossible to create using simple menus and buttons.
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Why should we bother learning the console?
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It's how we used to interact with computers, but now we have graphical interfaces
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with desktops, menus, and windows.
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Well, when you're programming or doing web development or design,
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some of the tools you may use may not have a graphical interface.
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These tools must run on the console.
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And if you're not familiar with the console,
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it will be a very frustrating experience.
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Websites and web applications will be deployed on remote computers called servers
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and most of the time, the only way to interact directly with these machines
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is to use a command line over a remote connection called SSH.
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The fact is, it's hard to avoid running into the console.
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And why would you want to?
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Once you become familiar with the environment,
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reaching for your mouse to mess with some menu will seem like a big waste of time
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when you could just type a couple of words and be done with it.
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Now, I've been talking a lot about the console,
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but we should get more specific.
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Most operating systems actually provide a console or a command prompt
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in some form or another.
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Because it's just a way to interact with your computer.
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To understand the console, is to understand your operating system better.
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But there are so many different operating systems out there.
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Which one should we choose?
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Linux. Now, I hear you saying, "I don't use Linux." Hear me out.
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You may have heard of something called Unix.
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It's an operating system first developed in the 1960s.
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It created a lot of great ideas on how an operating system should work.
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More importantly, a lot of operating systems were created using the same ideas
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and philosophies, and they mimic Unix.
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Many of these are free and open source, unlike the original Unix,
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and some are not.
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Linux, or GNU/Linux to be more precise, is one of those open source descendants.
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Now, why is Linux important to us?
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The vast majority of servers on-line run some flavor of Linux.
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Another operating system that is based on Unix is called Darwin.
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Darwin is what powers Apple's Mac OS10.
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That means nearly everything you learn about Linux will apply to Mac OS10 as well.
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Now, there are some other operating systems like BSD and Solaris,
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all of which share this common heritage.
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In fact, there is a standard that these operating systems share with each other
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called POSIX, or portable operating system interface.
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This is a standard that makes sure that all of these different yet related operating systems
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stay consistent to some degree.
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So, that once you know one, you can use another.
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This is one reason why OS10 is so popular with web developers.
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If our apps are going to be deployed on Linux,
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it makes sense to develop them in a similar environment.
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Now, you could use Linux on your desktop to develop,
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and many do--it's a great choice--
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however, Mac OS10 provides a full POSIX compatible environment
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and a finally tuned graphical interface to go with it.
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Now, that brings us to Microsoft Windows.
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Now, where does it stand?
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Well, it's not a POSIX compatible operating system at all.
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The way Windows works is actually quite different.
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This makes Windows a less desirable choice when doing web development
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because it's not compatible with the operating systems
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that we're likely to use on her web servers.
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Now, that's not to say you can't use it; you certainly can.
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If you're developing with Microsoft technologies like the .net suite of tools,
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you must use Windows.
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Now, it has a command prompt and some of the basics appear similar
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between Windows and POSIX compatible operating systems,
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but those similarities are largely superficial.
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Even if you use Windows as your personal computer,
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it's still a huge value to learn to navigate Linux
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because chances are, you're going to run into it sooner or later.
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So, chances are you're not using Linux right at this moment.
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So, how are we going to learn it?
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Well, we've built something just for you.
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Click the "Launch Console" button on this page.
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It's going to open up a command line window to a Linux computer we set up for you.
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This is a real computer running on the Internet that you can use to follow along
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and experiment with us.
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If you're using Mac or Linux or BSD or another POSIX operating system,
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you can use the console on your own computer if you'd like.
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Later on, however, we will be using some programs
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that are specific to our flavor of Linux--Ubuntu.
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We recommend that you follow along as well using the Treehouse console.
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Go ahead and make sure that your Treehouse console window is open.
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When you see the dollar sign followed by a blinking rectangle, you're ready to go.
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