The shell in Linux
Generally speaking, a shell is a CLI (Command-Line Interface) between a users and the kernel. The shell accepts and interprets your commands. For example, Windows Command Prompt is a shell for Windows.
You can use the shell in Linux to run programs, work with file systems, manipulate text files, and so on. Although most distributions of Linux come with a GUI, to get a deeper knowledge of Linux you will need to learn how to use the shell.
Some common shells found in Linux distributions are:
- bash – bash stands for Bourne Again Shell. The most common default shell.
- C shell – the shell with the interface similar to the C language.
- Korn – popular among UNIX System V users.
In the picture below we can see the bash shell in action:
