Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The GUI vs. the Command Line

It seems that someone is still debating it, or something.

In other news you can use, the debate still rages on antibiotics vs. leaches, and 18 wheeler vs. Four-in-hand.  Look, folks, I like the command line as much as anybody, but it's over.

(source)

16 comments:

  1. Command line is still used for 90% of admin work. I think what the guy is arguing for is both. Have the GUI execute commands (hell have it display what it's going to execute in the GUI) but have both.

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  2. I beg to differ Sir! What Grim said. I SSH into my servers at work all the time for admin stuff. Dreamweaver would be really hard though! Yes, both. There still is a command shell in Windows 7 too.

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  3. ...Here I am using all but a command line to enter comments... ;-)

    Jim

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  4. but using... derp.

    Jim

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  5. My typical workday includes conducting an orchestra of at least four computers at once time. (And it's not even admin work.) Five counting the VM I'm compiling on. With a GUI I can have a command line for each of them, all in one spot.

    On the other hand, no wonder I have a body mass index of 43.

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  6. What is this "C:\" thing?

    Everyone knows that a REAL command line prompt is %

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  7. Although $ is acceptable too.

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  8. I used a CLI in Win 7 today, there's probably a way to do what I did in a GUI, but I went with the way I knew.

    It's not over. It's more like an old married couple. You don't use it as much, but every once in a while you need it, it's familiar and comfortable, and when it works, you're pleased.

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  9. There is no more eloquent defense of the command line than Neal Stephenson's:
    http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/C_R_Y_P_T_O_N_O_M_I_C_O_N.shtml

    If you feel the same way after reading that, I'll be impressed.

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  10. I still occasionally use the Windoze command window. There are CLI commands for which Microsloth still hasn't gotten around to building a GUI replacement. Like ipconfig, the easiest way to get a machine's MAC address.

    And I have yet to encounter a GUI file manager/copier that can do everything xcopy can do, as easily as xcopy can do it ... although Beyond Compare comes close.

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  11. Someday there will probably be a GUI for carrier-class routers that doesn't suck and I'll wonder how I ever lived without it. Until then, en 15 or bust.

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  12. Wow, I guess I kicked over the ant hill here ...

    And Eseell, I thought that CiscoWorks would address all that! [ducks]

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  13. Well yes, obviously that argument is moot. cli is obviously way more productive.

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  14. You are CLEARLY not a sysadmin. CLI is FAR from over, in fact the Windows folks JUST got a real CLI (welcome to PowerShell, it's AMAZING).

    I can do things in a CLI that CANNOT be done in a GUI (not natively to the OS anyway).

    But you're right, there was no reason for Microsoft to introduce Server Core (No GUI at all), and you'll never get any benefit from a CLI session over a VPN versus a GUI, nor will you ever need to use things like GREP, TOP, PS...

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