3 ms·

So you learned to use a command line interface when you were a baby? I have been programming for half of my life since I was a teenager, but I can still rememb

by atoav 3y ago

So you learned to use a command line interface when you were a baby? I have been programming for half of my life since I was a teenager, but I can still remember how frustrating it was that some things just were assumed. I still remember when software without a GUI was an unpleasant thing for me, I can still remember struggling to understand how all the web technologies tie together and so on. Understanding that what you know isn't automatically self-evident or obvious even to a person that might be more intelligent than yourself is an important skill in the IT sector if you want to communicate effectively.

thaumasiotes 3y ago
I learned to use a command line interface before I was old enough that I can summon any conscious memories of the time now.† Like I said, "the same reason". I would have been less than three years old. The family computer had Windows, but I would not use it other than to play Solitaire, because it functioned worse than DOS. The default UI was DOS Shell ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Shell ; the page image there is not a perfect match to our installation, but it's close.), so most often I'd be using what amounted to a very primitive graphical interface, but I would also use straight DOS for reasons I do not recall. † Almost. I vaguely remember the large boards that my mother prepared in order to teach me to read, things like a magazine photograph of a horse juxtaposed with a large letter H, but I don't remember being so instructed, and that memory is subject to later reinforcement because those boards were kept for a long time. But it stands to reason that I would have needed to learn to read before learning to use a computer, so there's a chance some of those board memories predate that knowledge. I can remember my mother singing to me, but there's no way to date those memories precisely. Any memories that still maintain concrete details come from well after I could use a computer.

by atoav 3y ago

thaumasiotes 3y ago

I learned to use a command line interface before I was old enough that I can summon any conscious memories of the time now.† Like I said, "the same reason". I would have been less than three years old. The family computer had Windows, but I would not use it other than to play Solitaire, because it functioned worse than DOS. The default UI was DOS Shell ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Shell ; the page image there is not a perfect match to our installation, but it's close.), so most often I'd be using what amounted to a very primitive graphical interface, but I would also use straight DOS for reasons I do not recall. † Almost. I vaguely remember the large boards that my mother prepared in order to teach me to read, things like a magazine photograph of a horse juxtaposed with a large letter H, but I don't remember being so instructed, and that memory is subject to later reinforcement because those boards were kept for a long time. But it stands to reason that I would have needed to learn to read before learning to use a computer, so there's a chance some of those board memories predate that knowledge. I can remember my mother singing to me, but there's no way to date those memories precisely. Any memories that still maintain concrete details come from well after I could use a computer.