A “shell” is a command-line interface to, generally, a Unix computer.

When connecting to your Unix account, you’ll usually:

1. Be asked for your username (or “login”). Type it in, and press return.

2. Finally, you’ll be asked for your password. Type it in and press return. Unix doesn’t let you see your password as you type it in, in case someone’s looking over your shoulder.

At this point, you’re at what’s called the “Unix command line”. Here, you can type the name of the software you want to use. Some examples are:

• pine for electronic mail

• trn for Usenet news

• lynx for the World Wide Web

In general, you’ll only use a ‘shell’ account if you already know what you’re doing, so I won’t be talking about that from here on.

What is the Net?