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And then you have ImageMagick where the order of flags and options is a science by itself.

wchar_t 4y ago
Indeed, I passionately hate programs where the order of the options and files/arguments matter just as much as the options themselves.
- zvr 4y ago
  Given that ImageMagick can describe a sequence of operations (much like commands piped together), the order is obviously significant. The exact same holds for ffmpeg command-line.
- loudmax 4y ago
  The `find` command is extremely useful, but user-friendly, it is not. $ find -type f Data/ find: paths must precede expression: `Data/' find: possible unquoted pattern after predicate `-type'? sigh
jbverschoor 4y ago
Well magick is more a single live scripting language with multiple paths. While it works, I think it’s the wrong tool for the job
- nocman 4y ago
  So you are saying Imagemagick is the wrong tool for any job then? (I ask this because the OP didn't reference any particular task). I would disagree with that. Like many media-related command line tools, it does a lot and therefore has a fairly involved command line interface, but I have found it very useful over the years for processing multiple images (and sometimes even just individual ones).
sph 4y ago
Also ps. Everyone uses their own incantation and never strays from it. I use `ps aux` and used to use `ps -def` on Solaris. Some options require a dash, some don’t, it’s such a confusing CLI I never bothered to learn more. EDIT: also why is `ps` default output so useless? With no arguments it only prints a couple processes and that's it. I have no idea what it's supposed to show me. Talk about bad UX.
- spijdar 4y ago
  In case you're curious, the differences basically stem from BSD and Solaris/POSIX having different command syntaxes, and GNU/Linux's ps command trying to implement both. `ps -ef` is the Solaris syntax, while `ps aux` is from BSD.
  - kps 4y ago
    Almost. `ps ax` was original Unix form (BSD did add `u`, and later accepted `-` on the flags). `ps -ef` was AT&T System III and descendants.
- floren 4y ago
  Regarding default ps output: remember how people were using Unix in the old days. Logged in via a text terminal on a multiuser system, 99% the only processes you care about are those associated with the current terminal, and that's what ps shows by default. You might have half a dozen backgrounded programs running in that terminal, but that's about it. Now, my X sessions always have a dozen xterms running and plain ps isn't very useful, but it might break scripts if they changed it...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - veltas 4y ago
    Yeah this is the problem, the 'terminal' used to be the box/machine in-front of you. Now a 'terminal' is pretty much just a window or tab most of the time.
- 4y ago
chengiz 4y ago
I think Imagemagick and maybe git are where I require a web search most often, along with hope that someone has had the same need before.
professorsnep 4y ago
ffmpeg too! Been doing a lot with it lately and I barely even feel like I have scratched the service of the ffmpeg argument science.

Indeed, I passionately hate programs where the order of the options and files/arguments matter just as much as the options themselves.

zvr 4y ago
Given that ImageMagick can describe a sequence of operations (much like commands piped together), the order is obviously significant. The exact same holds for ffmpeg command-line.
loudmax 4y ago
The `find` command is extremely useful, but user-friendly, it is not. $ find -type f Data/ find: paths must precede expression: `Data/' find: possible unquoted pattern after predicate `-type'? sigh

jbverschoor 4y ago

Well magick is more a single live scripting language with multiple paths. While it works, I think it’s the wrong tool for the job

nocman 4y ago
So you are saying Imagemagick is the wrong tool for any job then? (I ask this because the OP didn't reference any particular task). I would disagree with that. Like many media-related command line tools, it does a lot and therefore has a fairly involved command line interface, but I have found it very useful over the years for processing multiple images (and sometimes even just individual ones).

sph 4y ago

Also ps. Everyone uses their own incantation and never strays from it. I use `ps aux` and used to use `ps -def` on Solaris. Some options require a dash, some don’t, it’s such a confusing CLI I never bothered to learn more. EDIT: also why is `ps` default output so useless? With no arguments it only prints a couple processes and that's it. I have no idea what it's supposed to show me. Talk about bad UX.

spijdar 4y ago
In case you're curious, the differences basically stem from BSD and Solaris/POSIX having different command syntaxes, and GNU/Linux's ps command trying to implement both. `ps -ef` is the Solaris syntax, while `ps aux` is from BSD.
- kps 4y ago
  Almost. `ps ax` was original Unix form (BSD did add `u`, and later accepted `-` on the flags). `ps -ef` was AT&T System III and descendants.
floren 4y ago
Regarding default ps output: remember how people were using Unix in the old days. Logged in via a text terminal on a multiuser system, 99% the only processes you care about are those associated with the current terminal, and that's what ps shows by default. You might have half a dozen backgrounded programs running in that terminal, but that's about it. Now, my X sessions always have a dozen xterms running and plain ps isn't very useful, but it might break scripts if they changed it...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- veltas 4y ago
  Yeah this is the problem, the 'terminal' used to be the box/machine in-front of you. Now a 'terminal' is pretty much just a window or tab most of the time.
4y ago

chengiz 4y ago

I think Imagemagick and maybe git are where I require a web search most often, along with hope that someone has had the same need before.

professorsnep 4y ago

ffmpeg too! Been doing a lot with it lately and I barely even feel like I have scratched the service of the ffmpeg argument science.