ing both the graphical interface and the terminal. Let’s say we have just installed Ubuntu and we want to install Pidgin and Chromium.
Here’s how we’d accomplish the task using the graphical user interface:
Open the Ubuntu Software Center, type Pidgin into the search box, click Pidgin Internet Messenger, click Install, and enter your password. Type Chromium into the search box, click Chromium Web Browser, and click Install.
This is a fairly simple process that inexperienced users should be able to figure out on their own, but it’s not the most concise explanation and it requires quite a few clicks. If we wanted to install many more programs at once, this would take forever.
Here’s how we’d accomplish the same task using a terminal:
Open a terminal window, copy-paste the following line into the terminal, and press Enter:
sudo apt-get install pidgin chromium-browser
The second line is much faster. It’s easy for readers, too – all they have to do is copy-paste. Note that we’re using a single command to install two programs – we could even install 50 different applications with a single command. When you are installing a large amount of software or doing more system tweaks, this can be a much faster process than guiding people through a long clicking process for each task.
In both cases, this is faster than the equivalent Windows process of downloading installers from multiple websites and clicking through installation wizards.
Windows Has Scary Low-Level Settings, Too
Not all settings on Linux are available in user-friendly control panels, but not all settings on Windows are available in user-friendly control panels, either. We have covered a lot of registry hacks you can use to customize hidden settings in Windows. The group policy editor contains many more.
You may have to use the terminal on Linux, but you may also have to step into the registry editor on Windows. With both operating systems, you can install third-party graphical tweaking applications that help automate some of the more popular tweaks.
Microsoft is trying to catch up with the powerful Linux terminal – that’s why they created Windows PowerShell, a more powerful command-line shell than the traditional DOS-like Command Prompt. If you are only familiar with DOS and the Windows Command Prompt, you would rightly be skeptical of command-line interfaces – but the Linux terminal is so much more powerful and flexible than DOS or the Windows Command Prompt.
Learning the Linux Terminal
There’s obviously a learning curve to go through before you can use the terminal to compose your own commands. You can find quite a few tutorials for learning the Linux terminal here at How-To Geek:
- How to Manage Files from the Linux Terminal: 11 Commands You Need to Know
- How to Get Help With a Command from the Linux Terminal: 8 Tricks for Beginners & Pros Alike
- Become a Linux Terminal Power User With These 8 Tricks
- How to Install Programs in Ubuntu on the Command Line
- How to Manage Processes from the Linux Terminal: 10 Commands You Need to Know
- How to Work with the Network from the Linux Terminal: 11 Commands You Need to Know
In summary: Don’t be scared of the Linux terminal. It’s an optional, powerful tool. If a lot of Linux geeks end up using it, it’s because it’s more efficient for many tasks. Just as geeks use keyboard shortcuts to speed things up rather than clicking everything, terminal commands can be faster than graphical tools, after you learn them.