OS X's command line and I have never been what I'd call 'friendly'; rather, we have a mutual respect and understanding about not messing with each other. (Well, as much of a mutual respect as one can have between a human being and a code window.)
- Open Terminal In Mac
- Mac Hacker Terminal Download
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- Terminal Codes For Mac
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While the average person should never have any reason to visit Terminal, Apple's command line interface app actually does give you access to quite a few neat tricks and shortcuts... if you're willing to take a peek.
What is Terminal?
Oct 17, 2018 by Caleb Taylor. How to code like a Hacker in the terminal. You are a hacker. Your home is the terminal. You know every key stroke is valuable. If something is less than 100% efficient, you will spend hours figuring out the right tool to save yourself seconds. Apr 08, 2017 Absolute BEGINNER Guide to the Mac OS Terminal - Duration: 17:03. Percy Grunwald from TopTechSkills 40,226 views. Terminal Tutorial! Prank Your Friends Via Terminal! Aug 21, 2016 Hack with the Mac Terminal Mr. Unsubscribe from Mr. How to look like a hacker (mac only) - Duration: 1:48. Tyler miller 24,652 views. The Terminal can help you configure your Mac exactly how you want it and provide access to features that just don't have any graphical interface to change. There are many options that are perfectly safe to use but to avoid overwhelming the user, they're hidden away, only to be found by power users wanting to make the change. Sep 19, 2017 Hollywood Terminal for Linux. To stop it, simply press Ctrl+C to kill the hollywood script itself, then type exit to quit the byobu console. To set the number of splits to divide your screen, use the -s flag. $ hollywood -s 4 You can turn off the theme song, using -q flag like this. $ hollywood -q.
Apple's Terminal app is a direct interface to OS X's bash shell — part of its UNIX underpinnings. When you open it, Terminal presents you with a white text screen, logged in with your OS X user account by default.
Here's the important part: With a system administrator account and password, you have direct access to tweaking almost everything about your computer's software code; that means that while this little window provides great power, it comes with great responsibility. In short, be careful before using Terminal to execute commands, and make sure you understand what you're typing.
You can also use Terminal to securely connect to other machines, web servers, and even create your own scripts, but those are how-tos for another day. For now, we're going to focus on using Terminal to explore your own computer.
Basic Terminal commands you should know
Before we get started with the fun stuff, let's learn some basic Terminal terminology and commands. These form the framework for more complex interactions (aka, the fun stuff).
How to execute a Terminal command
You can type something in the Terminal window until you're blue in the face, but it won't execute until you press the Return key on your keyboard. At that point, it will either return an error if you've typed something incorrectly, or the command will execute.
Unless you're executing a command that requires the display of text in Terminal, you won't have any indicator that what you've done has been successful; you'll just get a new line with your user name on it once the command is finished processing.
When writing commands and paths in Terminal, almost everything is case sensitive: This means that you need to remember to properly capitalize 'Dock' when referring to the Dock, or OS X won't understand your command.
What's a path?
You can use Terminal to get direct access to your files without using the Finder. To do so, you build something called a path. Paths look similar in some ways to website sub-directories, and follow the structure of your folders.
Paths take two forms: absolute paths and relative paths. An absolute path starts at the root level of your hard drive, and is displayed as '/'. So if you wanted to make a path to your Applications folder, you would write '/Applications/'.
Relative paths are defined based on where you've already navigated to, and represented by './'. For instance, if you go to the '/Applications/' folder in Terminal, that's your current working directory (cwd). You can then get to your Utilities folder by typing './Utilities/' rather than '/Applications/Utilities'.
When you first launch Terminal, you're starting in the current working directory of /Users/myusername/ (also known as your User folder).
How to display and move between files in Terminal
To actually put all this path knowledge to use, you'll need the Terminal commands for displaying and changing files.
ls: The 'ls' command, by itself, displays the contents of the cwd. So if I were just to type 'ls' in Terminal, it would display the contents of my user directory:
You can optionally add an absolute or relative or path if you want to view a different directories. So, for example, if I wanted to view the Utilities folder inside Applications, I could type 'ls /Applications/Utilities/'. This won't change your current working directory, but it'll let you view other directories on your hard drive.
You can add options to view more information about that directory. The options for 'ls' include:
- -l, which lets you view the permissions of each file in the directory
- -R, which will not only show each folder in the directory, but all their files, as well
- -a, which will show any hidden files in the current directory
cd: Where the 'ls' command lets you view a directory, the 'cd' command will actually move to that directory (change your cwd). For instance, if after viewing the Utilities folder, you want to move to it, you'd type 'cd /Applications/Utilities/'.
pwd: Write this command by itself to help you remember the path of your current directory. When typed into terminal, it will print the full path of your cwd.
Open Terminal In Mac
man: This command, followed by another Unix command, lets you read the Unix manual about the second command. This is super useful if you want to try a cool Terminal trick you found online, but aren't sure what those commands actually do.
For instance, typing 'man ls' will get you information on the 'ls' command, which lists directory contents.
How to modify files, folders, and preferences in Terminal
defaults: This command is often used in Terminal tips and tricks to tweak applications and system settings via their preference files. You can use it to do things like disable transparency in the menu bar, always show your scroll bars, change trackpad behavior, and much much more. You'll usually see this paired with either 'write' and a string, as with this:
The code above lets you save all your screenshots as JPGs instead of the system default PNG.
killall: If you execute a Terminal command that affects any system process or app, you're going to need to reboot the process to make it take effect. 'killall' followed by the process will do so. (This is also another way to force quit misbehaving apps or processes if your Force Quit menu isn't behaving.) Remember, this command and its target are case sensitive.
ln: OS X has long offered aliases, which let you create links to files, folders, and applications elsewhere in the system without having to duplicate them. Unfortunately, certain apps don't play well with aliases. With the link command 'ln -s', you can create a low-level, UNIX-based symbolic link which most system processes will recognize. Likely, you'll never have to make a symbolic link, but on the off-chance you want to perform a Terminal trick that requires them, this is how you do it.
The first path listed is your original file's path; the second path is where you'd like your symbolic link.
chflags: This commands lets you view and change the flags on a file or folder. For most people, the only flags you're going to care about are 'hidden' and 'nohidden', which hide and unhide documents, respectively.
sudo: If you spend any time online, you've probably heard of 'sudo' before. This is Unix's override command, and lets you execute any command as an administrator — provided, of course, that you have the requisite password and permissions. It probably goes without saying, but as a Terminal beginner, it's generally a good idea not to mess with commands like 'sudo' unless you are 100 percent sure what you're doing.
How to use Terminal for fun and whimsy
say: Feeling lonely? You can make your computer say anything you like with the 'say' command, and you can even record it in audio format to your desktop, if you so choose.
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl: This isn't technically something local to your Mac, but it's my all-time favorite Terminal trick. Some kind soul on the internet made an all-ASCII version of Star Wars: A New Hope; run the following code, and you'll be treated to a full showing. If it doesn't make you smile just a little bit, you might be dead inside.
macOS Catalina
Main
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by Caleb Taylor
You are a hacker. Your home is the terminal. You know every key stroke is valuable. If something is less than 100% efficient, you will spend hours figuring out the right tool to save yourself seconds. Because it’s always worth it.
Does your constant search for newer and better ways to do things detract from actually doing things? Some may say yes, but you say nay. No work is worth doing unless you can lecture your coworkers on why you were able to do it so efficiently (setup time not included).
The following is a list of tools/features that every good hacker should know about.
Dislcaimer: This article is written with a heavy dose of satire. It’s a twist on the “Me, an Intellectual” meme. While the suggestions are sincere (and by no means complete), the references to being a “hacker” are just for fun.
Shell (zsh)
Average developer: A shell is a shell. It doesn’t really matter which one I use. They all suck anyway.
You, a Hacker: The shell is the lifeblood of my work. My passion for efficiency and features knows no bounds. My shell must be one worthy of a true hacker.
You live in the terminal, and that’s why you want to use a great shell. That’s why you use zsh.
It comes with a whole slew of features:
- Auto-correct of misspelled commands
- Easy drop-in replacement of bash
- Better
cd
completion using<t
ab> - Path expansion:
cd /u/c/c/j
+<t
ab> =cd /user/caleb/code/
jarvis
It also comes with a great framework for managing your zsh configuration: Oh My Zsh. It includes 200+ plugins and 140+ themes to add all sorts of awesome features to your terminal. A small sample:
- git - tons of aliases and useful functions for git
- tmux - alias and settings for integrating zsh with tmux
- node - adds
node-docs
command for opening website docs - osx - several utilities for working with OSX
- web-search - initialize web searches from command line
- auto-suggestions - fast, unobtrusive suggestions as you type based on history
You can find the full list of plugins here.
Session Management (tmux)
Average developer: Okay I’ve got my files open for lame_project_1. But I also need to do work in boring_project_2. I also need to ssh into a server and look at the logs. I guess I’ll just create a huge mess in my terminal that has files/tabs from multiple projects open in a way that I’ll eventually lose control of and be forced to close and start over.
You, a Hacker: I work on several projects at once, so I need a tool to help me keep it organized. It should work across multiple platforms, and allow me to create organized work spaces and have a lot of other features that help with productivity.
You know that development can get messy. Sometimes, you have to work on several projects at once. That’s why you use tmux.
It allows you to create sessions. Each session can be customized to the exact layout you need. You can name sessions for easy switching, and even save and restore sessions if your terminal is closed. Plus, it has its own customizable status line that will allow you display things like time, date, CPU usage, and more. And if you don’t know your CPU usage at any given moment, are you even a hacker?
It even has a plugin manager and a whole slew of awesome plugins & features that will take your hacking to the next level.
Super-Pro Hacker Tip:
Use tmux with fzf via some awesome scripts to quickly create/delete/navigate to push your hacker level to over 9000.
Use tmux with fzf via some awesome scripts to quickly create/delete/navigate to push your hacker level to over 9000.
Search (ripgrep)
Average developer: Where did I define that constant at? I know it’s somewhere in here. I’ll try to grep for it. What are the arguments again? Let me google that. Ah crap, now it’s searching my node_modules folder. This is the worst.
You, a Hacker: When I search for something, it should be blazing fast. Also, it should use sensible default settings, like ignoring binaries or hidden files.
You know that searching your project is a common task. It should be fast, and it should not waste your time. This means things like ignoring anything that your
.gitignore
file ignores, and skipping binaries and hidden files. That’s why you use ripgrep. It’s like grep on steroids.In the words of its creator: “Use ripgrep if you like speed, filtering by default, fewer bugs and Unicode support.”
Fuzzy Finding (fzf)
Average developer: It’s sure hard to remember the exact location of so many files within my project. I guess I’ll stumble around until I find the right one.
You, a Hacker: I should be able to fuzzy-find files. I can type the file name, or some of the path, or all of it, and quickly find the file I’m looking for.
Mac Hacker Terminal Download
You know you shouldn’t have to type any more than you need to. So you use fzf, a general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder. It can also do much more than fuzzy-find files. It can used with any list: “files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits, etc”.
Super-Pro Hacker Tip: You know that aliases are a great way to make shortcuts to take advantage of fzf’s features. For example, if you wanted to fuzzy-find a file, and then open up the selection in your default editor, you can add this to your
zsh
config:Many more examples can be found on the fzf wiki.
Terminal Prompt (Spaceship)
![Terminal Terminal](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134259329/213647972.png)
Mac Hacker Terminal 2
Average developer: Who cares what my terminal prompt looks like? There’s no way it could possibly give me any useful information. I’ll just leave it as the default.
You, a Hacker: I want my prompt to be amazing. It should be context-aware. It should give me useful info and be configurable. Also, it would be sweet if it was related to space.
You know a prompt should be simple, clean, and provide only relevant information. It should also blow people’s minds when they see its beauty. That’s why you use spaceship-prompt. It provides git/mercurial integration, battery level indicator, clever host name and user data, version numbers for a variety of libraries, gorgeous icons, and much more.
Changing directories (z)
Average developer: I need to change my directory to my “hacker” project, which is inside of my cool folder, which is inside of my personal folder, which is inside of my code folder, which is in my home directory.
You, a Hacker: I need to change my directory to my “hacker” project.
![Mac hacker terminal 3 Mac hacker terminal 3](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134259329/324794584.jpg)
Typing out full file paths is what average developers do. You are a hacker. You rely on z. Once installed, it will start learning which directories you visit. Then, you can give it a regex (or simple folder name) to hop to the most likely candidate.
Bonus Hacker Tools
The following tools are additional ways to truly elevate your hacking game.
- wttr.in — There’s only one right way to check the weather.
2. Star Wars — Cool people like Star Wars. Hackers watch it in the terminal.
3. haxor-news - Are you even a hacker if you don’t read Hacker News?
Terminal Codes For Mac
4. Spotify - Using shpotify, you can play music from the terminal (OSX only… Hey, stop booing! Put that chair down! Who threw that tomato!?), or mopidy for something that’s cross-platform.
Mac Hacker Terminal 4
That about wraps it up. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Do you have any other amazing hacker tools? Leave a comment and let me know.
Mac Hacker Terminal 5
If you are interested in seeing more of these tools in action, checkout out my dotfiles that I use for development. As a bonus, here’s a screenshot of the glorious terminal in action: