I want any input on how to use my terminal

[spgmr2005]

can any of you be wiling to teach me on how to launch and run things directly through my terminal window. i want to become well versed in the ways of terminal'ing' everything

i am a newbie to macs in general, but have been using my powerbook g4 for about two months and have read a few books on macs.

can anyone teach me the ways of a true unix user? lol

...seriously.

thanks in advance to anyone helping me!

 

[symphonix]

One of the most useful commands you'll find is "open". You can open an application, a file, etc. For example:
open /Applications/Safari.app

To get around and look at files, use "ls" (for "list") and "cd" (for "change directory"). To get a feel for how this can work, try out these commands:
ls
cd /Applications
ls
cd /etc
ls
cd ~
ls -la

Now, the next command to get to grips with lets you access the built in command reference: "man" (for "manuals"). Just type "man" (space) and then the command you want to know more about. Eg:
man ls

Check out the manual pages for cp, rm, ftp, ssh, cat, kill, top and open. Be careful with rm (remove/delete) and kill (kill a process) but learn them, as they are immensely useful. Don't worry if most of the man age doesn't make sense to you straight away, just skim it a couple of times until you work out the rough purpose of the command, and come back to it when you feel you need it.

Give yourself some time to get to grips with the actual commands, and then you can move on to using shell scripts to automate all sorts of everyday tasks.

 

[spgmr2005]

dude. thanks. this is going to be very helpful. i didn't think that anyone would respond in such a detailed manner. expect more questions from me...lol.