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A shell account is a personal account that a user owns on a Unix machine. With a shell account, you can log into a machine somewhere else on the internet and run commands on it. When you are logged into your account, you are presented with a command line. There is practically no difference now between being logged into the machine over the internet or using it locally.
There are many reasons why this can be useful. With a shell account you have the ability to use and learn a different operating system and its programs, run IRC bots, and reroute internet traffic. One of the main attractions of commanding a machine other than your own is performing operations on the internet that woudln't normally be possible from your location (universities, work, or other areas with restrictive firewalls).

Owning a shell account is perfect for someone who wants to learn unix. Most shell providers are going to be running some form of unix, usually linux (although other unix based OSs such as FreeBSD and Solaris are not uncommon). Logging into the shell gives the user the ability to familiarize themselves with the unix command line and the most common programs. There are tutorials available for the linux command line and programs on the main page.

One of the more popular reasons to own a shell account is to run IRC bots. WIth a shell account, you can keep a presence in IRC for as long as the machine is connected to the net. This is useful if you want to run a bot, such as Eggdrop. Note that most free shell providers wont allow the use of IRC bots.

For those of you that are unfortuneate enough to be connected to the internet through a restrictive firewall (like me) a shell account can be a valuable tool. Most places like Universities and work offices block ports and sometimes even websites that the computers in its network are allowed to access. Of course, with a shell account outside the local network, this can be bypassed. It is even possible to route all internet traffic from your computer through the shell account, effectively bypassing any firewalls. Now thats cool. There is a tutorail available on the main page on routing internet traffic.

Use your imagination. There are many things you can do with a shell account, most of which will become familiar to you as you begin to learn the basics of operating one.

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