Im new (Terminal Questions)

[xxarmoxx]

Hello, I have been a PC user my whole life and now my job gave me a brand new macbook pro. I fell in love with this thing the second I saw it. Im still trying to get used to it so im gonne be asking some stupid questions, so please bare with me. First question is ...

So I created a folder called 'Bad Zips' on the desktop and I opened the terminal and I did the following: I typed 'cd desktop' then I typed 'ls' then I typed 'cd bad zips' but it didnt take me to the folder 'bad zips'. Did it not go into the folder because there is a space in between the words or is there a special way to get into a folder with a space in the name.

 

[swiftaw]

try cd Bad\ Zips

 

[xxarmoxx]

that worked, thanks.

Next question ...

How do I run a .app file from the terminal?

 

[Lyle]

try cd Bad\ Zips

cd "Bad Zips" (with the directory name in quotes) should work as well.

How do I run a .app file from the terminal?

open Foo.app should work.

 

[swiftaw]

type open, then the name of the app.

For example: open Firefox.app

 

[xxarmoxx]

What directory is firefox installed to by default?

 

[swiftaw]

What directory is firefox installed to by default?

Firefox is not installed by default, you would have to download it.

By default, applications are in /Applications

 

[Lyle]

What directory is firefox installed to by default?

It has admittedly been awhile since I installed Firefox, but I coulda sworn they packaged that up as a DMG file and not an installer. If that's the case, then the answer is that Firefox is installed wherever you dragged the application's icon to.

Check to see if it's in your "Applications" folder.

 

[djstarrock]

You might like Quicksilver.

 

[xxarmoxx]

well its sitting on my desktop but when I 'ls' my desktop i dont see anything about firefox, is it hidden?

 

[Lyle]

well its sitting on my desktop but when I 'ls' my desktop i dont see anything about firefox, is it hidden?

What's sitting on your desktop? A Firefox icon? If so, what happens when you double-click that icon?

 

[xxarmoxx]

ya, but when i double click it this folder with an image in it pops up and the firefox icon is that which actually opens up the app

 

[Lyle]

Let's see if this helps. Pay special attention to the last paragraph, where the author talks about copying files from a Disk Image to your "Applications" folder; this is how many Mac OS X applications are distributed, so this won't be the last time you'll use this information.

 

[xxarmoxx]

interesting

 

[yetanotherdave]

ya, but when i double click it this folder with an image in it pops up and the firefox icon is that which actually opens up the app

ok, that's a DMG file, it's like a virtual hard disk. it's a good compression method and common way for people to distrubute applications. It should look like a white rectangle.
When you open it you have the firefox logo, click on that and drag it into /applications. you can then get rid of firefox.dmg, drag it to the trash.
Now you can launch firefox by going to /applications and clicking on it, or, going to /applications, and dragging it to the dock, it will create a shortcut/launcher for you.