Most new Linux users do not understand the difference between
- Terminal
- Command line
- Shell
- Prompt
Here's what you should know about it π
Terminal: It is a graphical application that runs a shell by default. There can be many terminal emulator applications like Terminator, Konsole etc.
Shell: It is difficult to "visualize" separately from the terminal. The terminal runs a shell, usually Bash shell. Like terminals, there are various shells as well, zsh, bash, fish etc.
Prompt: This is what you see before the space where you type the commands. There is no set standard for the prompt. In some old terminals, you would just have a blinking cursor to the place where you can type the commands. In modern terminals, prompt gives you some information like username, hostname and current working directory.
Command line: It is not something specific to Linux. Every operating system has a command line interface. Many programming languages have command line interfaces. Itβs a term for the interface where you can run and execute commands.
Typically, you type the commands in a terminal after the prompt and the commands are interpreted by the shell.