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I still think it is a very big stretch to go from web browsers (which suck on many levels) to unix bashing. Most non-programmers don't come anywhere close to a

by pampa 11y ago

I still think it is a very big stretch to go from web browsers (which suck on many levels) to unix bashing. Most non-programmers don't come anywhere close to a terminal window, despite running some form of unix on their devices. I agree that a unix command line is not a good interface for non-programmers, but it is good for people who have to work with large quantities of textual information, and source code IS text. I think that the main problem is that there is not much (commercial or academic) interest in empowering non-technical users. There are some specialty tools for non-programmers like excel macros, or task automation in photoshop, but general purpose system that let the average user program the computer without actually programming it never took of.

seagreen 11y ago
I still think it is a very big stretch to go from web browsers (which suck on many levels) to unix bashing. This is a totally legit criticism. I think this connection is probably the most interesting idea I have in the post. Interesting doesn't make it right though. I just know from personal experience when I try to get people to switch away from webapps and they ask "what should I use instead?" I don't have a good answer. I could say "use desktop GUI apps", but that's not really convincing. What would be convincing would be "use this awesome command line/REPL environment!", but I have trouble honestly suggesting that (even though I love my setup) because I know they won't have a good experience with current command line environments.