A question for newbies and experienced users about Linux support

[Deleted member 128018]

There's noway I could remember every command I copy and paste or all of the how to links I've used.

Just makes sense to have them available when needed.
The Zim app sounds good I may have a look at it.

Having dual monitors would be neat to have.
I see good work monitors in thrift stores for nest to nothing.

 

[Condobloke]

Zim is worth a close look.

I needed to organise my mind before I organised Zim

The headings/names/titles that you use are crucial......so that you will remember where you have put what !

Dual monitors are a godsend. Spend a little time making sure that you have a second monitor connection on your pc tower.

I have one hdmi connector and one dvi or vga...cant remember which.....they work....thats all that matters.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

I keep a lot of command line stuff on text files they are only a few bytes each and have them on an external drive for reference, getting old can't remember all those commands anymore

 

[Deleted member 128018]

Dual monitors are a godsend. Spend a little time making sure that you have a second monitor connection on your pc tower.

I have one hdmi connector and one dvi or vga...cant remember which.....they work....thats all that matters.

I have an integrated graphics adapter with a VGA and DVI connector on the motherboard.

I don't know if the motherboard integrated graphics adapter supports dual monitors.

I'll have to look up the motherboard manual and see what it says.

 

[Deleted member 128018]

I keep a lot of command line stuff on text files they are only a few bytes each and have them on an external drive for reference, getting old can't remember all those commands anymore

Yep I saved mine onto a usb drive so that I can use them on my other Linux computer.

I can relate to the getting old and can't remember stuff.

 

[jpnilson]

Einstein said something to the order of don't memorize something you can look up. Google is your friend... I guess for someone like me I started out my career staring at IBM 3270 terminal. A GUI wasn't an option. I have had to parse many different OS's in my time. Each had a command set with a large number rules to remember. I use things for what they are good for. Sometimes you need granular information, one off information or just because its the way I learned to do something I use a terminal. If there is a graphical interface that can present me with information I need or execute a command with a checkbox or radial button I will happily use that. End of the day if you learn how things work it will make it a lot easier for you to decide what method to use to work with the system you are attempting to operate.

 

[Condobloke]

Google DuckDuckGo is your friend.

 

[Linuxembourg]

I copy and paste needed commands to a document folder using LibreOffice and when needed it can be easily accessed.

Yes I have a note file that contains a few things I use. But I think the general handiness of terminal is being over-egged a bit, for people like me at least. If I need to look up notes/google to find out how to search and install an app, it's easier for me to just use the package manager GUI.

I suppose conversely if it's something I need to look up anyway (like how to upgrade from Debian 10 to 11) then it's actually a godsend if someone puts it into a single unintelligible line that looks like something from Stackexchange's codegolf.

Maybe this question is to general or big to answer, but why is terminal used so much more than DOS is in Windows? Is it a case of community taste, or is it because DOS can't do most stuff anyway and you'd just be using it to (random example) open regedit.

 

[captain-sensible]

Einstein said something to the order of don't memorize something you can look up. Google is your friend...

Trouble is as you get older, you even forget the "key words" needed to quickly get the info you need; without the key words you get hundreds of google junk . For things needed long term i've got a libreoffice Doc Arch Install manual with sub titles of maintenance , journalctl stuff lines to use aspell to check spelling of .sla scribus documemts etc . Then for things i might need frequently i use FeatherNotes on Desktop

 

[JasKinasis]

I spend most of my time in the terminal.
Even if there are ways to solve problems in the GUI, I will always use the terminal to diagnose/fix problems. And the simple reason for that is - because the terminal is the quickest, easiest and most direct method to diagnose/fix almost all problems.

And whenever anybody posts a problem here, I will almost always post a terminal based solution because it’s much quicker to recommend a few simple terminal commands than it is to post instructions for the GUI. GUI based instructions are always much more involved:
Click here to open a program, click there to open a menu, click through a bunch of sub-menus, go to settings, click on the such and such tab, check settings X,Y and Z, go to another tab, check settings A and B, sacrifice a packet of peanut M&Ms to the elder gods, click here, click there, turn off the toaster, blah blah blah……

However, whenever I post a terminal based solution, I usually explain what each part of the commands do, so anybody can learn from the post.

Another common problem with GUI front-ends for terminal based commands is:
They often only implement a sub-set of the most useful functionality. They don’t always implement ALL of the functionality that the terminal based back-end provides.
So, the GUI front-end often only implements enough functionality to be useful for a narrow set of specific tasks.
So, if you need to do something slightly different, or more specialised - then in order to gain more fine tuned control and to use ALL of the functionality of the back-end, you might just have to use the terminal anyway!

And to any new Linux users reading this:
The terminal isn’t something to be scared of. It’s the most powerful set of tools you have on your system. Even for non technical users - if you use Linux based operating systems, it’s worth learning about the many powerful tools you have at your disposal in the terminal. And the many ways that they can be combined to perform all kinds of tasks!

 

[CptCharis]

If you learn command line, you will never leave it.

 

[captain-sensible]

If you learn command line, you will never leave it.

Unless you created your own software that has a gui to a backend , for other users then you find yourself leaving the cli and having to test and play with your own gui

 

[TheProf]

I always use the terminal as well to do something in Linux, such as configure, troubleshoot, and even open various apps from time to time...

However, I think for new users, not knowing the commands, and how to interpret the information from the commands can be intimidating. I am basing my opinion on how my friends who are not computer savvy look at command line.

I think one thing that Windows does well, is the ability for you to do most of the tasks if not all of the tasks through the GUI. Of course not everything will run through a GUI, but for the most part, Windows is not really known as an OS to be heavily terminal reliant.

I think with Linux, since we do use the OS differently from the way Windows is used, we tend to stick more to the terminal as it is something we're used to, its easy for us to do various different checks, and also troubleshoot when needed.

At the end of the day, Linux caters to a certain set of people and certain tasks, and Windows does the same. We can argue that MacOS even tries to simplify this process even more by implementing a lot of integrations between their various hardware and software (echo system) but ultimately, the way I look at each operating system is based on who it caters to.

Why is Windows used so much as a desktop? Because for new users, I personally feel it has the lower point of entry when it comes to needing to have knowledge around how to use it. With a GUI, you can figure things out as you see buttons, messages, etc.. With command line, you have to know what to look for, etc.