Question about Terminal application on Desktop

macOS is not Debian Linux. It does not have any relation to any Linux distribution.

macOS has roots in OpenBSD on top of the Carnage Mellon University’s MACH micro-kernel, or at least it started there about 25+ years ago.

While Unix, BSD, and Linux distributions have many common commands, they also have many differences in command options, and most of the administration commands are very different.

You could start with

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/OpenSource/Conceptual/ShellScripting/CommandLInePrimer/CommandLine.html

And there is the ‘man’ command.

if you include ‘macOS’ in any Google search for a command, you will get information on the macOS flavor.

The current popular apt-get equivalent, is Homebrew https://brew.sh which you have to install and configure, because macOS does not include a package manager.

macOS does not include a package manager, because Apple is not trying to sell a Unix/Linux/BSD operating system.

The fact that macOS is built on top of a BSD Unix operating system is a bonus for those of us that like that sort of thing.

The apt command is for Linux and doesn't have a Mac equivalent unless one was manually installed. Information on the installed software can be gotten by choosing About This Mac from the Apple menu and choosing More Info.

(265446)

The System Information application can tell you which GUI-based applications are installed.

To run System Information,

• Go to Applications > Utilities and double-click on its icon, or
• Hold down the Control key, and select System Information from the Apple menu.

Then click on the Applications item in the sidebar.

mechanic1357 wrote:

Thanks for the replies; I liked: https://linuxvox.com/blog/what-is-the-equivalent-of-aptitude-in-mac-osx/

That web page misleading.

It promotes Homebrew and explicitly says that Homebrew has "Massive community support". This statement is false. Homebrew has no support. We regularly see people posting questions here after they've performed some system update and Homebrew stopped working. They can't even run basic commands like "ls" or "cd". And because they used Homebrew instead of learning how things worked, they're completely, and totally. lost.

Furthermore, it promotes as normal the single most dangerous method of installing software. It's very frustrating how the Apple community has become so brainwashed over the years and absolutely obsessed with security. Everyone is terrified of being hacked by the Chinese, Russians, or North Koreans. They will endure constant updates and endless bugs for a false sense of security.

And yet, when any rando on the internet says, "Here. Run this Terminal command that you don't understand. It will root your computer, siphon up all of your personal data, passwords, browsing history, and bank account access and send it to malware servers on the internet", everyone is like, "Ok! Sure!"

But not to worry. There's a silver lining on the horizon. Probably one of the few real, tangible benefits that this new AI world is going to provide is the complete destruction of open source software community. Can't come soon enough if you ask me.

Thanks for the replies; I liked: https://linuxvox.com/blog/what-is-the-equivalent-of-aptitude-in-mac-osx/

You were able to get past all the ads and links to dubious software to extract useful information? I'm impressed.