How do I find out the system temporary directory?
env
Just type this command into Terminal. With zero arguments it'll print the names and values of variables in the environment.
Alternative with a bit more typing:
echo $TMPDIR
OS X has Python pre-installed, though not necessarily a fresh Python; but this is not cutting-edge stuff.
So:
Open a terminal
cat > hack.py
import tempfile
print tempfile.gettempdir()
^D
python hack.py
Credit to nosklo