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> GUIs are just a distraction. That's an unnecessarily polarizing statement. No one paradigm serves all needs. I use GUIs if the tool needed is complex, and I

> GUIs are just a distraction. That's an unnecessarily polarizing statement. No one paradigm serves all needs. I use GUIs if the tool needed is complex, and I'm not familiar with it; a well-done GUI is much more discoverable than a CLI. I also use GUIs if the output is more than one-dimensional. Image editors is an obvious case, but how about spreadsheets? And, I love SmartGit because it shows the log and diffs in a much more intuitive and interactive way than even tig. Note that I'm a bash-boy from way back, and spend time every day using it, interactively and in scripts. CLIs are great when they match my tasks. But they aren't the be-all and end-all. Beyond the differences in task, I'm sure there are people whose needs are consistently best-served with CLIs (you sound like one). Just like there are people who consistently go to GUIs for their tools. So: just because you view the world of tools in a certain way doesn't mean everyone else should as well.

vaughan 4y ago
Git is a good example because most tools will have a command-palette that prints out the git commands they are running to retrieve data to render. Otherwise they are using libgit2. It's interesting to think about the difference between an API as a library vs CLI / REPL. Often when I am building a library, for testing I usually would like almost every function to be runnable as a CLI. Anytime someone is doing some piping (joining commands) or shell-scripting, it usually could also be its own script with a CLI. Many applications could also just be shell scripts piping stuff together which I think is actually what the unix people envisaged. Starts making you ask: why are some things CLIs and not everything. Lots to think about...
ngcc_hk 4y ago
Yes. Once again And not Or. even playing game you use keyboard a lot. Not just the graphic input, even you live in a graphic world. So is editing etc. both.

vaughan 4y ago

Git is a good example because most tools will have a command-palette that prints out the git commands they are running to retrieve data to render. Otherwise they are using libgit2. It's interesting to think about the difference between an API as a library vs CLI / REPL. Often when I am building a library, for testing I usually would like almost every function to be runnable as a CLI. Anytime someone is doing some piping (joining commands) or shell-scripting, it usually could also be its own script with a CLI. Many applications could also just be shell scripts piping stuff together which I think is actually what the unix people envisaged. Starts making you ask: why are some things CLIs and not everything. Lots to think about...

ngcc_hk 4y ago

Yes. Once again And not Or. even playing game you use keyboard a lot. Not just the graphic input, even you live in a graphic world. So is editing etc. both.