What he said. It seemed a good idea at the time, considering that, back then, the alternative to a CLI on a 80x24 monochrome terminal were decks of punch cards,

What he said. It seemed a good idea at the time, considering that, back then, the alternative to a CLI on a 80x24 monochrome terminal were decks of punch cards, featuring 30-60 minutes turnaround time, with output on greenbar paper. Besides, VMS had a pretty nice "help" command. Barely had to crack open any of the orange binders in the 10 feet or so shelf of manuals. (For entertainment purposes only. Do not attempt this at home. Get off my lawn ;-)