So...how did you set up your shell/terminal?

I use the shell a lot, so of course I customized it.

What are your setups for working in the shell?

Mine:

  • iTerm2 instead of Terminal.app
  • zsh instead of bash
  • tmux to allow multiple sessions in a single window
  • zsh is extended with “Oh My Zsh” and plugins for macOS, MacPorts, git, Sublime Text, XCode, zsh syntax highlighting and suggestions
  • prompt expanded with PowerLevel to show icons (home,…), git status
  • added status bar to show session, current user and server/machine, battery

A lot of work went into the config files… :laughing:

Looks like this:

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I also use iTerm2, zsh, and Oh My Zsh.

For the prompt I use Powerlevel9k. Is that the same as you use?

I was not aware that you could configure a status bar… Need to look into that!

What do the numbers 13 and 1 refer to?

I use Terminal but I have a Hammerspoon config to bring up and hide it with Ctrl+tilde similar to iterm. My terminal prompt looks like this. image

I would like to do more, but I never get around to it.

I use tmux. I’ve never been a big fan of zsh.

iTerm & fish:

I use fish mostly for how configurable it is and Oh My zsh if I need something that is bash compatible. The first line should be self evident. The prompt line has my current branch, short commit hash and a status (currently something has been changed.)

I’m a basic guy. I use Terminal.App with minor them customization. I don’t use it enough to need anything but that.

Yes it’s mostly transparent. It comes in really handy sometimes.

I liked fishs suggestion feature and found GitHub - zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions: Fish-like autosuggestions for zsh for zsh.

BTW, since Star Wars ist a recurring theme in MPU:

  • open a shell (Terminal, iTerm2) and
  • run the command ‘nc towel.blinkenlights.nl 23’ (nc host 23 is a “replacement” for telnet which isn’t part of macOS singe HS)

Who need’s Netflix if you have a shell? :smiley:

With Dark Solarized color scheme.

Wow, I need to up my game and look into a lot of these suggested options (there goes another lost evening geeking out!)

I’ve used iTerm2 for many years (in visor mode normally, slightly transparent to see a bit of the background). Bash, a lot of bash profile shortcuts and a slightly customised prompt with:

  • current path
  • date/time
  • git status

@Lars do you mind elaborating on where you get your status bar from or sharing any of your config?

Cheers all.

I use Iterm2 and tmux.

The best feature I like is the broadcast feature since I work with 12 Linux servers.

iTerm 2 + zsh + Antibody + Pure theme.

Ok inspired!

So after trying zsh + Oh My Zsh + Powerlevel9K + Nerd Fonts (I’m using my favourite one ‘Hack’) – extended Powerline fonts not displaying properly in iTerm2 (but are with the same config in Hyper terminal, so must be an iTerm setting :-/

Then inspired again by the simplicity in Juan’s use of Pure prompt + Hyper Snazzy + Zsh Syntax Highlighting

Other Hyper plugins I’m using are: hyperterm-visor, hyperpower (until it annoys me), hyperterm-1password, hyperline, hyperterm-tabs

Loving it! :heart_eyes:


Weirdly the character encoding or something is still not displaying this setup correctly in iTerm.

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Will not go down the terminal rabbit hole…
Will not go down the terminal rabbit hole…
Will not go down the terminal rabbit hole…

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I’m thinking the same thing… I use terminal a little bit, but some people tell me that if I devote time to learning to do everything in the terminal (e.g. text editing using Vim, file management, etc.), I’ll eventually be a lot more efficient. But I need to have something that will cause me to invest the appropriate amount of time. Is the hurdle too high for me to jump over? I’m not sure yet…

As a very experienced terminal user, I advise you not to get too involved with Terminal. The GUI is there for a purpose, use it. Eventually you may run into a situation where you must use Terminal; figure it out then.

There’s absolutely no reason to learn “text editing using Vim”. I use it several times a year to change some server configuration and you only need to know how to close and save a file (ESC, :wq, ENTER). That’s it. Usually I open remote config files in any SSH-capable proper text exitor (Atom, Sublime Text,…).

The terminal gives you access to many resources and through scripting you can do very powerful manipulations/management. There are tools that can also do that, but most “GUI apps” are one-trick ponies. Ok, the whole shell concept is a collection of one-trick ponies, but you can easily link the commands. If I want to sort files based on their initial letter into subfolders, I can buy Hazel or I can do it in the shell. That said: Hazel is way more comfortable and you can get there faster if you are not proficient in shell commands/scripting.

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I would also say that file management via the shell is more error-prone. Things can go spectacularly wrong without warning.

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I’ve had files get moved to the wrong place because of a mouse glitch or janky network connection (when working over a remote desktop connection).

With the terminal, you can at least up-arrow to check the command you just ran. And some shells can be set up to warn you before certain operations to give you a chance to bail out.

Like…“rm -rf /”? :smiley: