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GUI VS Terminal

Here you can discuss every aspect of Debian. Note: not for support requests!

Which editing method would you use?

GUI / Windowed interface
11
19%
Terminal session
46
81%
 
Total votes: 57

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anarchyinc666
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GUI VS Terminal

#1 Post by anarchyinc666 »

Is it just me or are 90% of the answers and steps to linux issues in terminal format rather than GUI?

There has been many times that a large list of code was rolled out that a simple right click / edit with the mouse could have done faster. Personally I like some form of GUI when I do my edits and configuration settings it's just faster than trying to remember code each time. What is the point in the programmers making easy to use menus and short cuts if no one uses them?

This is also one of the reasons people are afraid to make the switch over, they all think that you need an Associates Degree in Computer Technology just to surf the web in linux.

Now that I think of it, the GUI environment is always thought of as windows were as the terminal is thought of as linux. Are linux users just trying not be be like windows users? Maybe this whole thing is a subconscious phenomenon. I've encluded a poll to prove my point.
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GIT d- s: a- C++++ UL++++ P+ L+++ E-- W+++ N- o-- K- w++
O- M-- V-- PS+++ PE+++ Y PGP+++ t-- 5-- X+++ R* tv+++ b DI++++ D
G e+ h---- r+++ y++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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BioTube
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#2 Post by BioTube »

I think the reason most support responses are in the form of terminal commands is that they're easier to describe. Whereas a GUI requires "click here, click there", terminal commands can be given in the form they're issued(ie copy+paste works for them). For a while, Wine didn't have any GUI instructions on their page for this reason(they now use screenshots).
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#3 Post by Bulkley »

It's your personal computer, you can do whichever you want.

Occasionally, I will edit with a gui, but for most uses I prefer vi. I guess I'm used to it. I find vi to be so much faster and simpler than screwing around with a gui.

Do guis have their use? Of course.

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Telemachus
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#4 Post by Telemachus »

I suspect that this is flamebait, but what the hell, I'll play along. Yes, in some cases a gui can be a quick, easy way to do something. But in many, many cases it's not.

Case in point: I maintain about 60 blogs for my school, and in order to work with them, I've written 25 or so Perl scripts to do various maintenance tasks. I run the scripts from many different machines, and the exact location of the Perl interpreter varies (/usr/bin/perl vs. /usr/bin/local/perl vs. /home/user/localperl/bin etc.). To open each script and change the initial line would take a lot of fiddling and time in the gui. Instead I enter this one-liner:

Code: Select all

 perl -i.bak -pe 's{/usr/bin/perl}{/usr/local/bin/perl};' *
In thirty seconds, I've changed the line I needed to on every script in the working directory and made a backup of each file as filename.bak (in case I made some hideous typo).

That said, if all you ever do is surf the web and check email, then. sure, a gui is great.
Last edited by Telemachus on 2008-11-04 12:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Bro.Tiag
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Re: GUI VS Terminal

#5 Post by Bro.Tiag »

anarchyinc666 wrote:Personally I like some form of GUI when I do my edits and configuration settings it's just faster than trying to remember code each time.
Which gui would you like a clicky clicky clack solution for?

OH, sorry I do not run that desktop, maybe you should un-install your desktop, install my desktop and then I'd be able to answer you with a click here, click there, select from pull-down option, check other, save, type solution.

OR

If that is too much trouble, you could be grateful for the help you do get when someone says, from a terminal do such-&-such (beats RTFM).

Cheers

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Jackiebrown
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#6 Post by Jackiebrown »

I disagree with the premise that gui="I love Bill Gates"

infinitycircuit
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#7 Post by infinitycircuit »

For most people, I think it's a matter of use cases. If you use a certain tool a lot, you get comfortable with it. If you started with vi in the dark ages, you still use it. When I first started using Linux, I read a book about learning the shell. Vim was chapter 7, Emacs was chapter 8. I use vim basically because I learned it first. On the other hand, I always set -o emacs in the bash shell.

In terms of memorizing commands, once you get proficient with an editor, you are light-years faster.

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#8 Post by Lavene »

GUI / Windowed interface AKA "I love Bill Gates"
Terminal session AKA "I am smarter than everyone else"
That's the dumbest poll here yet... because of the flame bait. But what the heck, I have two hours to kill before I have to go to work so I'll bite:
Whether or not I use a GUI editor depends on several things: What I'm doing, what current 'mode' I'm in etc.

If I need a quick fix of a configuration file that requires root, and I already have a root terminal running, it's much faster to just use nano than getting a GUI editor running as root. Or if I don't have a GUI available I obviously can't use a GUI editor. I can't see how this should make me feel "smarter than everyone else".

However, if I have a filemanager open in a directory where I need to edit a text file (non-root) I just double click it and it opens in my default GUI editor. In this scenario it's faster and easier than using CLI. I can't see how this makes me a Windows lover.

When I need to solve a task I want to do it in the way that's most efficient to me in that situation. The type of tool (CLI or GUI) really does not matter one bit. I don't want to open a terminal, type a long path and edit the file in a cumbersome interface if all it takes is a click or two. Nor do I want to fire up a GUI and get a root editor going by navigating through a myriad of menus if all it takes is to type a path...

My computer is a toolbox and I value the ability to choose the tool I find most suitable to solve the task at hand.

(See... that took care of ten minutes ;) )

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edbarx
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#9 Post by edbarx »

Maybe this whole thing is a subconscious phenomenon.
:lol:
The subconscious!? What is the subconscious? Ask Sigmund Freud what is the subconscious, maybe he knows what is the subconscious! There is another more scientifically based explanation for psychological ailments besides the nonsensical idea of the subconscious!

Back on topic:
So, Linux users are idiots who prefer to endure a repetitive stress injury of their fingers with endless typing in Terminal. I dare ask: What is enduring, a few CLI commands in a simple terminal or a complete reinstall wasting half a day to complete? That's the real ease of Windows! The system is hidden from the user, with the lame excuse that, users are not interested in the inner workings of their operating system. However, every sane user, is interested in restoring the the system in the least time possible, and of recovering the data in case of system breakdown. I know many Windows users who lose their data, when Windows presents the beautiful blue screen after it finds something it doesn't like. Most Windows users do not know that one can recover the data when the system breaks down! Moreover, they do not know, and I have met computer technicians who insist about it, that programs need a reinstall after a motherboard change! :lol: :?

The CLI is the sancta sanctorum of computing not just Linux! This is because, the CLI, by its very nature, is extremely simple to support, because it depends on only a few files. In case of system break down, the CLI is like a GOLD MINE. It does make sense to depend on a simple tool rather than a complex GUI to do maintenance tasks. GUIs need many daemons running in the background to support. On the other hand, a terminal is extremely simple. This advantage cannot be underestimated.

Regarding the gibberish that a terminal uses complex commands to remember, my answer is that human beings, use language which is by far more complicated than CLI commands. If one finds it difficult to remember the commands, one can always keep a hard file organised in alphabetical order for reference. This is how CLI commands can be learnt.

Another point is:
Does it make sense to run a desktop on a server? I have a definite "no" for that question. Security requires a server to limit the use of running daemons because more daemons only mean more surface area from which an attacker can break in. So yes, unlike Bill Gates's attitude towards computing, servers should not have a desktop.
Last edited by edbarx on 2008-11-04 08:04, edited 1 time in total.
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#10 Post by Issyer »

GIU is nice when there's a need for it, but in many cases it is not needed and even annoying. Another reason is that CLI doesn't require a lot of coding and can perform only with an almost bare algorithm. But it's a different thing because GUI exists separately and is a front end for CLI.
Last edited by Issyer on 2008-11-04 08:28, edited 1 time in total.

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Issyer
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#11 Post by Issyer »

Telemachus wrote:To open each script and change the initial line would take a lot of fiddling and time in the gui. Instead I enter this one-liner:

Code: Select all

 perl -i.bak -pe 's{/usr/bin/perl}{/usr/bin/local/perl};' *
I've just written in python a nice search&replacer. All you need is to enter the directory for the bunch of files to search-n- replace.

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#12 Post by edbarx »

Some giants from Terminal:

Code: Select all

mount /dev/device-name /mnt
The above allows one to mount a partition to repair an unbootable installation. How would you do that in kde, gnome or whatever without first being able to boot?

Code: Select all

rsync -a source destination/
This can copy an entire partition preserving file permissions. This is a real jewel in case of system breakdown.

Code: Select all

apt-get install package-name
I imagine this command as if telling someone, "Joe, install wine!" Honestly, by creating an alias for apt-get, one can issue this command as,

Code: Select all

joe install wine
:lol:
Debian == { > 30, 000 packages }; Debian != systemd
The worst infection of all, is a false sense of security!
It is hard to get away from CLI tools.

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anarchyinc666
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#13 Post by anarchyinc666 »

I am afraid most of you missed my point, there was no point. Just a topic based on the idea that Linux users prefer to use terminals rather than the GUI. And this has turned into a stereotype of sorts that all computer geeks can relate to.

I understand the fact that terminal use can be and is highly faster in editing than with searching though windows and screens to find things. If for example, I know what exactly I am looking for it would be faster to type it in, on the other hand I could not recall what something was called but knew where to find it though a GUI I would do that.
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GIT d- s: a- C++++ UL++++ P+ L+++ E-- W+++ N- o-- K- w++
O- M-- V-- PS+++ PE+++ Y PGP+++ t-- 5-- X+++ R* tv+++ b DI++++ D
G e+ h---- r+++ y++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Debian-SID Xfce

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#14 Post by edbarx »

anarchyinc666 wrote:I am afraid most of you missed my point, there was no point. Just a topic based on the idea that Linux users prefer to use terminals rather than the GUI.
Then how would you explain the evolution of so many desktops and window managers?
Debian == { > 30, 000 packages }; Debian != systemd
The worst infection of all, is a false sense of security!
It is hard to get away from CLI tools.

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garrincha
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#15 Post by garrincha »

Terminal is far easier as it's analogous to your brain being organised in one neat package with drawers for certain tasks. Terminal driven editing can be done in the same interface, so no need to clutter the screen with a mishmash of interfaces with different functions.

You want to cut & paste? Use the left mouse button to select, middle mouse button to copy & paste anywhere on any interfaces. You want to do quick edit? Open terminal with F1 (I bind my rxvt-unicode-lite terminal with F1 key via xbindkeys) and type nano /home/blah/blah using tab completion. If you cannot remember all the configuration files, put them in one neat menu (I put them in a custom Fluxbox menu) so when I open the menu and click on an item of interest, it will automatically open the file in either nano or mousepad.

Or be adventurous and

Code: Select all

# apt-get install emacs21
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MeanDean
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#16 Post by MeanDean »

anarchyinc666 wrote:I am afraid most of you missed my point, there was no point.
If there was no point, how did we miss it....???

(says the smart terminal user)

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#17 Post by oswaldkelso »

As a dumb terminal user but smart gui user :D Where's the option "I use both?" :wink:
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#18 Post by Issyer »

anarchyinc666 wrote:If for example, I know what exactly I am looking for it would be faster to type it in, on the other hand I could not recall what something was called but knew where to find it though a GUI I would do that.
Oh, awful guy, have you ever tried locate or find at least?

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#19 Post by stoffepojken »

Emacs is the crap

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#20 Post by Issyer »

stoffepojken wrote:Emacs is the crap
Agree. I switched to jEdit. There's a nicer editor called EditRocket. When I become rich, I will purchase a copy. :lol:

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