4 ms·

And does it actually have well tested, well known, reliable functionality on everything you tend to use? Configuration of programs using easy to edit text files

And does it actually have well tested, well known, reliable functionality on everything you tend to use? Configuration of programs using easy to edit text files vs some system of ticking checkboxes in a GUI? RegEdit, is there a text version for that? Imo there's no comparison to the Linux ecosystem. Windows is GUI first.

cesarb 6y ago
> RegEdit, is there a text version for that? AFAIK, yes, it's at %WINDIR%\System32\reg.exe
- code_duck 6y ago
  So it exists, but is the usability and functionality nearly equivalent? And the thing is that it also involves third-party software tools.
  - int_19h 6y ago
    Nearly equivalent to what? It can do everything that the GUI can, if that's what you mean. Some things are obviously going to be less convenient, but that's just the nature of CLI. And what third party tools does that involve?
    - code_duck 6y ago
      What I mean is that oftentimes on Windows, I use non-OS tools or applications which are not made with the expectation that you will want to script them or configure them via text interface.
useerup 6y ago
> RegEdit, is there a text version for that? Uhm, in Powershell: PS C:\Users\zb3> cd hklm: PS HKLM:\> (you are now in the registry local machine hive)
- code_duck 6y ago
  It's just that I have a hard time believing that three or four years of development for administrating windows through text is equivalent to 30 years development for administrating Unix through a CLI.
  - JoBrad 6y ago
    PowerShell has been around since 2006, not just the past 3 or 4 years. And there was a good deal of CLI-based administration / scripting before then, too.
  - what-the-grump 6y ago
    The default fallback to can't find it in GUI is cmd? Windows 95 used to start from command prompt. We've been administering windows from cli for 30 years. But our cli was oo from the start. Powershell is really amazing. Once you start falling out of object land into crap like ssh, you see the split, e.g. why it took so God damn long to port it. And I still have plink into switches using a premade command file.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    In many ways it's much better. There is a consistent interface over everything. Whereas on my Unix boxes my ~/.ssh/config file looks completely different to my Apache config. Also I get much more fine grained control over permissions in the registry, right down to individual keys. Try doing that when your config is in a text file.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
And does it actually have well tested, well known, reliable functionality on everything you tend to use? Yes, MicroSoft made a big thing about this about five or six years ago if I recall correctly. All the server products like Exchange or SQL Server treat PowerShell as a first class client. You can walk around the registry just as if you are traversing a directory tree. If anything the GUI is becoming rather dumbed down in recent releases.

cesarb 6y ago

> RegEdit, is there a text version for that? AFAIK, yes, it's at %WINDIR%\System32\reg.exe

code_duck 6y ago
So it exists, but is the usability and functionality nearly equivalent? And the thing is that it also involves third-party software tools.
- int_19h 6y ago
  Nearly equivalent to what? It can do everything that the GUI can, if that's what you mean. Some things are obviously going to be less convenient, but that's just the nature of CLI. And what third party tools does that involve?
  - code_duck 6y ago
    What I mean is that oftentimes on Windows, I use non-OS tools or applications which are not made with the expectation that you will want to script them or configure them via text interface.

useerup 6y ago

> RegEdit, is there a text version for that? Uhm, in Powershell: PS C:\Users\zb3> cd hklm: PS HKLM:\> (you are now in the registry local machine hive)

code_duck 6y ago
It's just that I have a hard time believing that three or four years of development for administrating windows through text is equivalent to 30 years development for administrating Unix through a CLI.
- JoBrad 6y ago
  PowerShell has been around since 2006, not just the past 3 or 4 years. And there was a good deal of CLI-based administration / scripting before then, too.
- what-the-grump 6y ago
  The default fallback to can't find it in GUI is cmd? Windows 95 used to start from command prompt. We've been administering windows from cli for 30 years. But our cli was oo from the start. Powershell is really amazing. Once you start falling out of object land into crap like ssh, you see the split, e.g. why it took so God damn long to port it. And I still have plink into switches using a premade command file.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  In many ways it's much better. There is a consistent interface over everything. Whereas on my Unix boxes my ~/.ssh/config file looks completely different to my Apache config. Also I get much more fine grained control over permissions in the registry, right down to individual keys. Try doing that when your config is in a text file.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

And does it actually have well tested, well known, reliable functionality on everything you tend to use? Yes, MicroSoft made a big thing about this about five or six years ago if I recall correctly. All the server products like Exchange or SQL Server treat PowerShell as a first class client. You can walk around the registry just as if you are traversing a directory tree. If anything the GUI is becoming rather dumbed down in recent releases.