I know we all enjoy being nerds and using commands (H4ckerman). But now that everything is either a gui or web based, is there really any use to terminal commands?
For example, on windows I never used powershell or cmd hardly ever. I realize now I probably could have. But Linux just drives me to use it more, which i like anyway (because let’s be honest, it makes us feel superior)
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Even outside of scripting and so forth, which I use a lot, often it’s far easier and faster to just cook up a wildcard string or a regex or whatever when you’re faced with a folder with eleventy bazillion files in it, only some of which you’d like to move somewhere else.
Yes, you could point-and-click on all of those for the next hour and a half plucking them all out of your file browser window. Me personally, I’d really rather not.
Other similar use cases abound.
For programming it’s essential.
Could you elaborate ?
I’ve always wanted to get into coding but what ive watched/read on something like godot or VBA was all clicking certain boxes in the gui and didnt interest me much. Are you saying like python and scripts ? That makes sense. I have no clue what programmers actually do since ive never been able to find something to apply it to
Godot has a terminal only mode
It’s easier to automate.
yes, it’s the most natural and efficient way to do lots of things, and the only way to do some things.
Using the terminal doesn’t make normal people feel superior, it is simply more efficient to type commands than click UIs.
In Linux, GUIs are almost always a front end with limited options for a CLI. Also, with CLI you can chain commands to get even more control.
You’ve got plenty of examples of how the command line is more than jus a “cool” way to do things. So I’ll address a couple other issues.
On windows you are discouraged to use command line because that way windows gets more control over what you can do or can’t do. Remember windows is not a neutral piece of software, it’s a company’s business model. On Linux there’s no reason to impede using the command line, all the power to you.
(because let’s be honest, it makes us feel superior)
I don’t know if it’s because of my autism, but this strike me as odd. Do people really think like this? I have a certain expertise, that’s computers, and I can use a bunch of different tools to the best of my knowledge to do things. I choose command line or GUI depending on how easy the task is to do in each or the time it takes. Not everyone is trying to show off, it’s just the best tool to use sometimes.
Yes, just making a joke, however when anyone sees me use Linux even for basic stuff they freak out that im hacking. So the cliche still stands strong.
Good point on windoze!
Depends on your work. If you manage headless remote servers or computers, terminal through SSH is kinda the only way to use the computer. There is a lot of software and algorithms or databases that don’t actually require a gui. Terminal comands are also great because they can be easily reused and further integrated and automated.
Pipes etc.
A GUI can’t combine commands from several different programs and move data to and from and use that with the ease and explicit nature of a terminal.
Many things are way easier on the command line than they could ever be in a GUI. Especially for processes that need repeatability, e.g converting a whole directory of images in a certain way.
Sometimes it’s easier to type
cd ~/D{tab}/M{tab}{enter} open .than using the GUI.Plus all the fancy stuff that people do with scripting
Unless we’re in a simulation, very yes.
Normal people don’t seem to realize this but the reason developers swarmed to Mac OS X over Windows when given a choice for work laptops is that Mac OS X has a built-in POSIX shell.
CLI is and will always be more expressive than a GUI. Some “web apps” have even tacitly acknowledged this by adding terminal emulators to their web apps.
Here’s a task for you: how do you convert a folder with 5000 images from png to jpg, while ensuring that they are scaled to at most 1024x768 and have a semi transparent watermark on them?
I know how to do it quickly using the command line, but have no idea how to do it with a GUI.
I know people who work in windows environments as developers or admins using power shell a lot. They can automate sooo many things through scripting. I work in IT too but this advanced scripting shit is still witchcraft to me. But this is real world usage which makes digital infrastructure management work a lot more efficient. Especially if you have repetitive tasks say on different machines. With GUI you would just be clicking through the same shit over and over again (while slowly loosing your mind).
Hey it’s me! My job is basically spending hours per day writing automations in powershell. Our prod environment encompasses thousands of servers + separate windows server environments for testing and Dev.
I fixed a family member’s Windows PC once. Stuck in an update boot loop. Had to rebuild the bootloader to fix it. It took ten minutes once I looked up the commands online. He had already taken it to a PC repair shop and they said all they could do was reinstall the operating system. Honestly, these Windows people are like handicapped because they never really interact with their computers. They only interact with a kind of software nanny that keeps them away from the scary stuff for their own good.
I love my terminal.
Yeah linux made me love computers again! Interacting more closely with the machine is so much better for me
