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? If I want to start Google Chrome, I can open the start menu, type "go" or "ch", wait half a second to see that it's the first result, and hit return. To do th

by bztzt 14y ago

? If I want to start Google Chrome, I can open the start menu, type "go" or "ch", wait half a second to see that it's the first result, and hit return. To do this from the terminal I need to switch to a terminal, know the name of the executable (not just the display name of the program), know what directory it's in (or make sure to put it in my PATH), etc. I don't agree with your characterizations. The mouse allows density but doesn't demand it - both more and less dense layouts have pros and cons for mouse and are appropriate in different contexts. A terminal is good for input but limiting for output - I would like to see a command shell that took a text command language, but produced graphical output.

barrkel 14y ago
The only time I want to launch Chrome (it's not my main browser) is if I want to visit Facebook (which is blocked every which way in my main browser). Now, if I wanted to make visiting Facebook quick, I'd create a shell script called 'fb' which would start Chrome with facebook.com as the argument. But I don't, so I haven't. Switching to a terminal? I'm always in a terminal. I have 4 open on my desktop right now, not including the virtual terminals hosted in screen sessions. I'm pretty much never more than an Alt-Tab away from Cygwin in mintty. Less dense layouts don't work well with the mouse, in my experience - I'm talking about screen-sized layouts, the kind you see on phones and tablets, only scaled up to multiple 30" monitors[1]. Big mouse moves can cause you to lose track of the mouse altogether for a second. Graphical output? I'm not really sure what you're getting at. What kind of graphical output would you want, apart from starting graphical applications based on command-line arguments or piped output? I've written many of both. Most of the time all you want is to view a graph, picture or video. All are trivial to integrate to the command line with appropriate glue. [1] This is actually a bigger concern of mine over Windows 8. I'm normally multitasking across 6+ apps at all times: my custom notetaking app, vnc, several terminals, browser, documentation and two email clients. It's why I have multiple big monitors. Only being able to multitask with two applications at a time sounds like a bad joke.
- bztzt 14y ago
  I agree 100% that the idea of Metro style apps with their severe limitations (on multitasking and otherwise) replacing desktop apps is a bad joke. However, I don't really interpret them as replacements, but just as another model with its own advantages ( isolation, suspension/controlled backgrounding, guaranteed declarative install) and disadvantages (multitasking limitations, walled garden, etc.) I think it's very stupid that metro style apps are set as the default for file types and on the start screen etc. However, as a supplement to the desktop I like having them available.

by bztzt 14y ago

barrkel 14y ago

The only time I want to launch Chrome (it's not my main browser) is if I want to visit Facebook (which is blocked every which way in my main browser). Now, if I wanted to make visiting Facebook quick, I'd create a shell script called 'fb' which would start Chrome with facebook.com as the argument. But I don't, so I haven't. Switching to a terminal? I'm always in a terminal. I have 4 open on my desktop right now, not including the virtual terminals hosted in screen sessions. I'm pretty much never more than an Alt-Tab away from Cygwin in mintty. Less dense layouts don't work well with the mouse, in my experience - I'm talking about screen-sized layouts, the kind you see on phones and tablets, only scaled up to multiple 30" monitors[1]. Big mouse moves can cause you to lose track of the mouse altogether for a second. Graphical output? I'm not really sure what you're getting at. What kind of graphical output would you want, apart from starting graphical applications based on command-line arguments or piped output? I've written many of both. Most of the time all you want is to view a graph, picture or video. All are trivial to integrate to the command line with appropriate glue. [1] This is actually a bigger concern of mine over Windows 8. I'm normally multitasking across 6+ apps at all times: my custom notetaking app, vnc, several terminals, browser, documentation and two email clients. It's why I have multiple big monitors. Only being able to multitask with two applications at a time sounds like a bad joke.

bztzt 14y ago
I agree 100% that the idea of Metro style apps with their severe limitations (on multitasking and otherwise) replacing desktop apps is a bad joke. However, I don't really interpret them as replacements, but just as another model with its own advantages ( isolation, suspension/controlled backgrounding, guaranteed declarative install) and disadvantages (multitasking limitations, walled garden, etc.) I think it's very stupid that metro style apps are set as the default for file types and on the start screen etc. However, as a supplement to the desktop I like having them available.