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A shell is a special command-line tool that is designed specifically to provide text-based interactive control over other command-line tools. Each Terminal window or SSH connection provides access to the input and output of a shell process. In the modern era, in spite of the ability to transmit graphical user interfaces over the Internet, the command line remains a powerful tool for performing certain types of tasks.Īs described previously in Before You Begin, most users interact with a command-line environment using the Terminal application, though you may also use a remote connection method such as secure shell (SSH). Historically, the command line interface provided a way to manipulate a computer over simple, text-based connections.
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