Getting a Linux(-like) Terminal on Your Machine

Ubuntu/Linux on Windows

The native command line interface in Windows is conceptually similar to that of Linux, but uses different syntax and very different programs. Luckily you can install what is called the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which essentially gives you a Linux distribution inside Windows. When installed you can then open a Linux terminal and other Linux programs in the same manner as if you only had Linux installed.

See this guide for instructions for how to install WSL and Ubuntu. To be able to run Linux programs with a graphical user interface you can try out this guide, but note that as of the time of writing this feature seems somewhat experimental and requires a recent version of Windows 11.

Linux on macOS?

The command line interface in macOS is almost the same as in any Linux distrubution. The short story is that macOS is a variant of Unix, and Linux started as a free reimplementation of Unix. However, note that sometimes there are subtle differences in which commands exist, their flags, and sometimes in functionality.