Stage 1 · Lesson 4 of 8
Terminal, shell and prompt
Three words get mixed up, so pin them down now. The is the window. The shell, such as Bash or , is the program inside it.
It reads your command, expands shortcuts like * (all files) and ~ (your ), finds the program and runs it. The prompt is the text the shell shows while it waits for you. It usually shows your user name, the machine and the folder you are in.
A command is a program name followed by and , separated by spaces. Options change how the program behaves; arguments say what it works on. Reading the prompt tells you where you are and whether you are root, the all-powerful admin user. That habit prevents most early accidents.
Common trapcopying commands from tutorials together with the $ prompt sign, or without checking which folder you are in first.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- GuideFreeWindows Subsystem for Linux Documentation
Microsoft · Beginner
Microsoft's own install and best-practice guides for WSL, including where to store files and VS Code set-up
- GuideFreeThe Linux Command Line for Beginners (Ubuntu)
Canonical · Beginner
A short, friendly first hour in the Ubuntu shell once your terminal is working
Keep handy
Also worth your time
- roadmap.sh: LinuxGo deeper
A map of the whole Linux topic, to see how much there is beyond this stage