Learning Unix for OS X

Chapter 1. Why Use Unix?

Why would any sane person want to type in a bunch of funny-looking Unix commands when you can just use the trackpad? After all, OS X has one of—if not the—best looking user interfaces out there, so what would compel you, a Mac user through and through, to use the Unix command line? That’s a tough sell, but you can boil it down to just one word: power.

Lying underneath the OS X interface is a powerful Unix system, ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice. All you have to do is command Unix to take action. One of the greatest pleasures of using Unix within OS X is that you get the benefit of a truly wonderful graphical environment and the underlying power of the Unix command line. There’s no denying it’s a match made in heaven. Even Apple promotes OS X with the tagline, “The world’s most advanced desktop operating system.”

This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book, answering the question: “Why use Unix when you have a perfectly good Mac graphical interface?” It’s an important question, but I think that if you give it a try, you’ll agree that joining the Unix world is really like learning you have a completely separate, and even more powerful, operating system lurking in your machine.

The Power of Unix

It’s quite reasonable to question why you should have to remember commands and type them in. If you’re a long-time Mac user who is familiar and happy with the capabilities and logic of the Aqua interface, you might need some convincing that Unix ...