Q:

Raspberry pi direct connect over ethernet

Simplified:
I been wondering on how to connect my Macbook and Raspberry Pi together over ethernet ( I do not have access to a crossover atm). I've set up, on the Pi side, by typing
sudo ip add *insert Pi ip here*/24 dev eth0

but when I attempt to use this exact line (changed ip), Macbook doen't connect. At all. Anyone know how to fix this? 

A:

Recent versions of Raspbian (which use dhcpcd) allow ssh to work over a link-local address and avahai (which is a zeroconf implementation) enables programs to discover hosts running on a local network.
This means you can plug the Pi into a Computer (with an Ethernet cable) or a local network router and connect without knowing the IP address.
You can easily connect from OS X with ssh pi@hostname.local (the default hostname is raspberrypi)
You can use a crossover cable, but you don't need one (most modern interfaces automatically detect).
I think this answers the question I think you are asking. See How do I set up networking/WiFi/static IP address? if you want more detail.

