Do you like terminals or GUIs better?

[CrazedNerd]

Just curious about what your thoughts are on this, terminals allow you to make large changes to anything on your OS very quickly, and the commands have arguments...but i guess the reason why all computers have GUIs now adays is because...

-it's hard to remember what the commands do

-the GUIs are very intuitive for people who don't know what they're doing.

 

[Brickwizard]

as I have just answered on another thread, some distributions have their own repositories which often contain modified updates to suite that particular build, if the distribution I am using has its own repositories I tend to use them, if not then I will often use terminal

 

[KGIII]

I prefer to do different things with different methods.

Browsing the web in the terminal is a painful experience. Checking for updates and upgrading in a GUI is pointlessly long and tedious.

So, I do different tasks in either.

 

[dos2unix]

Like KGIII says, browsing the web in CLI is a pain (but it can be done).
However 90% of my job is ssh'ing to remote servers at remote data centers or in the cloud (still in data centers usually ) and that's very difficult in a GUI.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I prefer to do different things with different methods.

Browsing the web in the terminal is a painful experience. Checking for updates and upgrading in a GUI is pointlessly long and tedious.

So, I do different tasks in either.

yeah, i can't imagine only downloading web page text through wget...sounds painful, but that one linux guy does it, i can't remember his name.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I prefer to do different things with different methods.

Browsing the web in the terminal is a painful experience. Checking for updates and upgrading in a GUI is pointlessly long and tedious.

So, I do different tasks in either.

i just want to say, i think this is just a great post...i noticed that downloading stuff through linux repos from a browser typically takes a lot longer, i don't understand why but its a lot slower than pirating through a torrent.

 

[KGIII]

Well, there are text-based browsers that run in the terminal. They make it marginally better. In fact, last I knew, you could still mostly use Slashdot in the terminal.

I imagine most other interactive sites won't work. One could probably leave a comment on a basic WordPress site. I should test that out of curiosity. But, there's like lynx and elinks for browsing in the terminal.

 

[KGIII]

i just want to say, i think this is just a great post...i noticed that downloading stuff through linux repos from a browser typically takes a lot longer, i don't understand why but its a lot slower than pirating through a torrent.

In the terminal, there's no overhead. There's no repeated http requests, or anything like that.

That's my working theory.

 

[dos2unix]

Well, there are text-based browsers that run in the terminal. They make it marginally better. In fact, last I knew, you could still mostly use Slashdot in the terminal.

I use both links and lynx on occasion. But I avoid it when I can

 

[f33dm3bits]

It depends on what I'm doing, when it comes to managing my OS I prefer the terminal but when it comes to user applications I prefer using the GUI because most of those applications only support a GUI.

 

[KGIII]

I use both links and lynx on occasion. But I avoid it when I can

It is not a very rewarding experience, as neither handled any type of scripting the last I knew. So, they might render a site but not make it all that useful. Slashdot work(s/ed) because they maintain(ed) a version that doesn't rely on JavaScript.

I should check to see if this site works. It might, though the fancy editor wouldn't likely work. You'd have to type things like quote and code yourself.

 

[jpnilson]

From an administrative standpoint GUI can provide complex graphical information providing status, historical information and key information on current configuration. Resolving issues, applying patches and diagnostics are usually easier done from a command line. As mentioned earlier one would not browse the web in a meaningful way as most content is designed to be rendered via an interface. Both have their place

 

[Fanboi]

Well, it depends...
By default my login is in a console and I manually startx for a more stable system (swap video card, it breaks, config gets derped by nVidia updates, etc.) and security (graphical processes started by the greeter and the greeter have no privileges before I login, login itself is more secure, etc).
- So if I start my machine after a reboot, troubleshooting is easier.
- I can browse for quick info (troubleshooting, etc.) using links (most sites work -- you can read the text and "figure it out" if things aren't aligned) and get a decent user experience at 1920x1080.
- GNU nano is a very usable text editor at 1080p.
- I can even run mpv in the background with music playing.
- Installing software is easier via the console by far.
- With Debian, I browse software using Synaptic as it's easier and you only get a screenshot if you request one, so it doesn't bog you down with logos, images, etc. like Gnome solutions do on Debian derivs. I keep a root console open in the background and add packages I want to the install list as even Synaptic feels slower (maybe coz I'm not watching it in the CLI, lol).
- On Arch, there's literally no GUI frontend that's "pure". Pamac et al are yay/makepkg/etc. The only option I know of is pcuses, which is ncurses-based and looks great IMO. The only thing I'd add is the option to download a screenshot like synaptic on Debian.
- I prefer to delete/move dirs with large sizes or massive trees or thousands of files via CLI, too, as Thunar takes forever (I since added a custom action to invoke rm). Anyone know why? Does rm kill just the top level inode and orphan the rest?
- Generally, I like a GUI file browser because it's easier to navigate, has custom actions, etc. and looks prettier. It's one of a few areas I like the mouse.
- Obviously real web browsing needs a GUI with a proper renderer with js and HTM(5) support and the built-in x264 support.
- People may differ depending on their preference of mouse vs keyboard. I have sxhkd setup that I can do 90% from the keyboard. So obviously I prefer a keyboard-centric tool. By the same token, people who can use a mouse quickly will gravitate to GUIs.

What I will say in closing is that the CLI is a constant. So when I find myself in any OS besides Windows, I generally can at least do thing, from only the basics on MacOS (as I'm not super familiar with it), to running the entire system on Debian & kids. GUIs will vary and change and get you lost. I rember long before Linux, when I first got Win3.1 (it was still just a shell then), jumping back to MSDOS to do most things. It was Win98 IIRC that Windows became a fully-fledged OS and I felt lost and scared. I was frustrated ever since. That's why I use Linux and sometimes FreeBSD (lately GhostBSD as it's preconfiged). Just that you will never be lost in the CLI, whereas every fcking GUI overhaul in an OS (and software, too) becomes a royal PITA (like wading through this post, just much worse ^10).

 

[Fanboi]

Let's see, this should post via Links browser... it does.

 

[KGIII]

it does.

I figured it probably would. Does the automatic BBCode entry like the code or quote button work? I'd be surprised if it did. You'd also likely need to go to the page to see replies, instead of the flyout.

 

[Fanboi]

I figured it probably would. Does the automatic BBCode entry like the code or quote button work? I'd be surprised if it did. You'd also likely need to go to th page to see replies, instead of the flyout.

Well, it seems to auto-quote, but bbcode stills must be manual

 

[KGIII]

Well, it seems to auto-quote, but bbcode stills must be manual

Was that quote or the reply button? Reply button automatically inserts the text, so no scripting should be required.

I suppose I could check myself, but seeing as you're already there!

 

[Fanboi]

Was that quote or the reply button? Reply button automatically inserts the text, so no scripting should be required.

I suppose I could check myself, but seeing as you're already there!

I used the Reply "button" (if you can call it that in links, lol). Some functionality is definitely retained. The forum software is very good in general regarding compatibility. When on my phone, all the auto-formatting options actually work. Surprisingly, so does Crtl+Z (I have a special keyboard on my phone). But gettin back to links, Reply=yup, Others=Nope. Edit doesn't seem to work either... Maybe I derped that, that's why I did a new post. One major error is the preview area is shown in what seems like the same text area, but is not. You can spot the difference since the preview contains the HTML tags, the edited text does not.

 

[KGIII]

I used the Reply "button" (if you can call it that in links, lol).

Yeah, that's what I figured. It's from the operation performed and not due to any scripting or anything like that.

The GUI mobile site works okay with my Barney Rubble phone. So, that's important - as I sometimes am not home and need to ensure I follow up here with something.

 

[Fanboi]

my Barney Rubble phone.

Nice.