Ubuntu - What the hell is Terminal?

Ubuntu - What the hell is Terminal?

Beginners explanation of terminal in Ubuntu.

You may have heard of terminal or seen lines of scary code or instructions that look like something from a Hollywood blockbuster. To the uninitiated it looks alien and something that a normal user would never need or indeed something you shouldn't even see.

Look scary? Nope, it's just Ubuntu during a simple update

Put simply, terminal is a text based way of interacting with your system. Commands that are normally invoked by your system when you click a button can be entered as a text command. I can install an application, move a file, mount a drive etc. if I know the correct command.

The reason why it is used by so many is easy - Speed and ease of use.

Now that statement might seem counterintuitve to many but give me two minutes and I will explain.

Sample Case

Let's just take an example where I would like to install my favourite music player Amarok. To do this normally I have to launch my Launcher or Dash, Open Software Center, conduct a search for Amarok,  find, click install and finally enter my password. 

The terminal method is as follows:

sudo apt-get install amarok

and type my password. Done.

Worth It?

Now this is just a simple case and it might not justify learning or understanding terminal and for many users it may not be. If you are happy browsing the web, listening to music and watching video then there may never be a time where you need terminal. To others however, just getting a glimpse under the hood is not enough. When you delve into terminal you find the power and speed that simply cannot be had through graphical interfaces.

See our terminal commands list to see the actions that keep terminal users coming back.