Open a terminal

A terminal is a window where you type commands for your computer, instead of clicking on things. You use it for every other tool in this lesson, and for most of this course.

Open it

Steps are different on macOS, Windows and Linux. Click the name of your computer's system to open its section.

macOS

Check if it's already installed. Every Mac comes with Terminal. There is nothing to install: you only need to open it.

Open it.

1. Press Command (⌘) and Space together. This opens Spotlight search.
2. Type Terminal and press Return.

A window opens. This is where you type commands.

Check that it works. In the Terminal window that just opened, type this and press Return:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Windows

Check if it's already installed. On Windows, the terminal for this course is Ubuntu's, which you installed on Install WSL. If you skipped that page, do it first.

Open it.

1. Click Start.
2. Type Ubuntu and press Enter.

A window opens, with a line ending in $. This is where you type commands. Use it for every command in this course, not PowerShell.

Check that it works. In the Ubuntu window that just opened, type this and press Enter:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Linux

Check if it's already installed. Every Linux desktop comes with a terminal. There is nothing to install: you only need to open it.

Open it. Press Ctrl, Alt and T together. A terminal window opens.

If nothing happens, open your list of apps and search for Terminal.

Check that it works. In the terminal window that just opened, type this and press Enter:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Next

Your terminal is open. Next, install Homebrew.