The Command Line Interface

The command line interface (CLI) is the text-based screen that allows you to interact with the Linux operating system in a simple text environment. There are many types of programs that allow you to interact in this format. They are called shell programs or simply shells. The one you will most likely use or be offered when you install your Linux desktop is the bash shell (which stands for Bourne Again SHell). For the purposes of this discussion, the bash shell will be the type of shell referred to. However you may run into three other commonly used shells:

ksh: The Korn shell

tsch: An advanced version of the Berkley Unix C shell

zsh: The Z shell resembles the K or Korn shell but has many additional features