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I like the way our tools went from Text -> Graphical interface -> Text You can see this with all the CLI tools being introduced for traditional programs. I sup

I like the way our tools went from Text -> Graphical interface -> Text You can see this with all the CLI tools being introduced for traditional programs. I suppose people appreciate control and automation.

cpach 10y ago
Reminds me of Neal Stephenson’s great essay, ”In the Beginning Was the Command Line”. http://cristal.inria.fr/~weis/info/commandline.html http://cristal.inria.fr/~weis/info/commandline.html
- erelde 10y ago
  I've made an .epub of this, because I don't have time to read it yet. If someone else wants to read that more comfortably later tonight: https://www.dropbox.com/s/143tu70gxc40qvi/In.The.Beginning.Was.The.Command.Line.epub?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/143tu70gxc40qvi/In.The.Beginning.W... _(no guarantee on the conversion quality)_
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  IBWCL is REQUIRED reading for anybody intending to study compsci or work with computers in any capacity. It's dated, but it explains the principles of open source, UI, and abstraction clearly and simply. These are all things that you Need to Know.
vegabook 10y ago
you like that? I can see how you might like a command line as opposed to a dumbed-down, simplistic, and intelligence-insulting GUI. But I cannot see how you can love Markdown. A shit standard that uglifies everything it touches, instead of celebrating the beauty of typography. There is no inconsistency between liking command line, and being demanding in terms of text layout. Just ask LaTeX.
- andrewchambers 10y ago
  Sometimes people want a dumbed down command line to get the best of both.
- projectramo 10y ago
  Well, I like that the format is readable and just plain text files. If you wrote documents in word 1.0 or WordPerfect or something, they may be lost to the world but markup could still be read by any reader.
- Retra 10y ago
  What does markdown have to do with text layout? It basically acts like a lightweight, readable version of html. If you don't like how it renders, render it some other way.
- peatmoss 10y ago
  Much as I love LaTeX, it's a programming language and not a markup format like Markdown. LaTeX is kind of a terrible exchange format for that reason.
jkscm 10y ago
Text is, kind of, the only truly portable, multi-platform control/interface/thingy/

cpach 10y ago

Reminds me of Neal Stephenson’s great essay, ”In the Beginning Was the Command Line”. http://cristal.inria.fr/~weis/info/commandline.html http://cristal.inria.fr/~weis/info/commandline.html

erelde 10y ago
I've made an .epub of this, because I don't have time to read it yet. If someone else wants to read that more comfortably later tonight: https://www.dropbox.com/s/143tu70gxc40qvi/In.The.Beginning.Was.The.Command.Line.epub?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/143tu70gxc40qvi/In.The.Beginning.W... _(no guarantee on the conversion quality)_
qwertyuiop924 10y ago
IBWCL is REQUIRED reading for anybody intending to study compsci or work with computers in any capacity. It's dated, but it explains the principles of open source, UI, and abstraction clearly and simply. These are all things that you Need to Know.

vegabook 10y ago

you like that? I can see how you might like a command line as opposed to a dumbed-down, simplistic, and intelligence-insulting GUI. But I cannot see how you can love Markdown. A shit standard that uglifies everything it touches, instead of celebrating the beauty of typography. There is no inconsistency between liking command line, and being demanding in terms of text layout. Just ask LaTeX.

andrewchambers 10y ago
Sometimes people want a dumbed down command line to get the best of both.
projectramo 10y ago
Well, I like that the format is readable and just plain text files. If you wrote documents in word 1.0 or WordPerfect or something, they may be lost to the world but markup could still be read by any reader.
Retra 10y ago
What does markdown have to do with text layout? It basically acts like a lightweight, readable version of html. If you don't like how it renders, render it some other way.
peatmoss 10y ago
Much as I love LaTeX, it's a programming language and not a markup format like Markdown. LaTeX is kind of a terrible exchange format for that reason.

jkscm 10y ago

Text is, kind of, the only truly portable, multi-platform control/interface/thingy/