Episode 014 - CL… Why?
I have been a Linux user for a little over 2 years for my personal computing, During my time with Linux i have noticed something, we love the command line, but why?
I spent 20 years using Windows (I still use today for work as a lot of us do) and out of all that time, the only time that stands out when I used the command line in Windows was to ping an IP or google.com to test/diagnose network issues. In Linux I use it all the time, and i don't even second guess it.
Install an app, open terminal:
apt install [APP NAME] or snap install [APP NAME]
Moving files and folders around:
mv folder1 folder2
Deleting folders:
rm -rf /folder1
The questions I asked myself:
- How have I managed 20 years using GUI (albeit with keyboard shortcuts) to do these and now find CLI ( Command Line Interface ) easier, is it because the GUI isn't as intuitive as Windows? Is it because I use Linux its expected? or is it simply because I use Linux and I usually have the terminal open anyway because its a powerful tool to do lots of things quickly.
Either way the terminal scares a lot of new Linux users, specially the ones coming from Windows who probably never need to touch the command line to do anything.
People who are intrigued, curious or like to tinker will generally find their way to the command line at some point on their journey.
- How do we make it more accessible and user friendly for 'New' users? How do we show them the power of the CLI without scaring them away?
Final question, do we have to? Should GUI be enough for your every day user without the need to open a terminal ?
Let me know your thoughts...