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Command line interface (OS shell) and graphic user interface (GUI) are different ways of interacting with a computer's operating system. The shell is a program that presents a command line interface which allows you to control your computer using commands entered with a keyboard instead of controlling graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with a mouse/keyboard combination.
There are quite a few reasons to start learning about the shell:
- The shell gives you power. The command line gives you the power to do your work more efficiently and more quickly. When you need to do things tens to hundreds of times, knowing how to use the shell is transformative.
- To use remote computers or cloud computing, you need to use the shell.
This lesson assumes no prior experience with the tools covered in the workshop. Participants should bring their laptops and plan to participate actively.
This lesson is part of a workshop that uses data hosted on Zenodo. Please see the Workshop setup page. {: .prereq}
If you are teaching this lesson in a workshop, please see the Instructor notes. {: .prereq}