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Why use the command line at all when you can use a GUI? Understanding how your system works is a different level from choosing the tools in the first place.
by Altreus 16y ago
Why use the command line at all when you can use a GUI?
Understanding how your system works is a different level from choosing the tools in the first place.
- EvanK 16y agoYou may not always have your optimal tool set, such as when you're remoting into someone else's environment (common for sysadmins or contractors), or when you're stuck using someone else's computer rather than your own.
- loire280 16y agoIt depends on what you do, I suppose. If your work doesn't have a large command-line component, using the command line might be disruptive. A large part of my job involves working with remote Linux servers, so I chose to invest time learning Linux command line tools and vim. Now I'm more productive in a terminal than in a GUI environment. I use common tools that are installed by default on Linux/Unix/OSX, so I can sit down anywhere and do my work, or SSH directly into my machine and have my exact work environment securely and without latency.
- jacquesm 16y agoA command line is a poor mans gui. A gui is a poor mans command line. Whichever I'm using there are always aspects of the work that you could do better with the other.
- bingaman 16y agoGive me an example of something that you could do better with a gui. Just curious.
- johkra 16y agoSelecting a number of unrelated items from a list. Example: You have a folder with music files and want to select some to copy onto your portable music player. It's easier to click on the items to select them than typing all the names, even with file name completion.
- jacquesm 16y ago- interactively increasing the contrast of an image - browsing the web (sorry, lynx users) - play games (not that I'm a gamer) - desk-top publishing - routing a PCB - CAD and so on... But then, each of those has moments when you think to yourself 'Man, I wished I could script this' (well, maybe not the games).
- mooism2 16y agoSure, but given that I already use screen, what use cases would I find easier using job control instead of plain screen?
- guns 16y agoSimple command line timer: remind() { [[ $# -ge 2 ]] || { echo >&2 "Usage: $FUNCNAME time msg"; return 1; } local sec="$(($1*60))" ( trap "echo \"\$sec seconds left\"" QUIT while ((--sec > 0)); do sleep 1; done say "${@:2}" # OS X only, replace with your favorite notifier ) 2>/dev/null & } $ remind 30 get the laundry Query time remaining with kill -QUIT %jobspec. Good for systems that don't have at(1).