The OS X Terminal is a very powerful tool for configuring and using a Mac, and can be used to script and program a number of aspects of the computer's operations; however, its text-based interface can be a bit of a cryptic environment to first-timers, especially when it comes to finding out what you can use it for.
There are thousands of Terminal commands available, but when you first launch it you might not have a clue where to look for them. Of course there are basic commands like "ls" for listing directory contents or "cd" for changing directory, but in addition there are text editors, string parsers, expression managers, and numerous other commands that, depending on the purpose, can make the Terminal a hidden but exceptionally powerful tool.
Hitting Tab with no previous text entered will get you a list of all the available commands.
(Credit: Screenshot by Topher Kessler/CNET)
If you are just getting started with using the Terminal, you may find it useful to build your command vocabulary. There are many resources such as the BSD Unix command summary that will give you a quick overview of the common commands; another approach is to list all commands available to you and then look up the manual page of each individually to see wha... [Read more]
by Topher Kessler via CNET
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