Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 8th Feb 2008 20:46 UTC, submitted by irbis
"It's one of the more popular culture wars in the free software community: GUI versus CLI (graphics versus the command-line). Programmers, by selection, inclination, and long experience, understandably are attracted to textual interactions with the computer, but the text interface was imposed originally by technological limitations. The GUI was introduced as a reply to those problems, but has undergone very little evolution from 1973 (when it was invented at Xerox PARC) to today. So why can't we do better than either of these tired old systems?"
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RE[2]: Two parts to the essay
by Almafeta on Sat 9th Feb 2008 17:38
in reply to "RE: Two parts to the essay"
Member since:2007-02-22
Just imagine the following task: You have a bunch of image files. First, renumber them with the current date. Then pick those with a geometry x > y and rotate them 90 degrees, put those that have been rotated into a separate directory, and output a list of the files to the printer.
(I know you meant this rhetorically, but I like a challenge, forgive me from doing this off-hand......)
Win+F, select directory(s), tab into screen, App+R, "* - %d", shift-tab one back into the filter screen, "X > Y", tab back into selection screen, App+O, choose the program that'll rotate them (don't know which would be best off hand), Ctrl+C, App+N, name your directory, Enter, Ctrl+V, Alt+E, L, Win+No, Ctrl-V, Ctrl+P.
RE[3]: Two parts to the essay
by marafaka on Mon 11th Feb 2008 10:42
in reply to "RE[2]: Two parts to the essay"
Member since:2006-01-03
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2006-10-08
The CLI is completely programmable, while the GUI is just a mapping of a subset of possible CLI operations onto graphical controls.
Just imagine the following task:
You have a bunch of image files. First, renumber them with the current date. Then pick those with a geometry x > y and rotate them 90 degrees, put those that have been rotated into a separate directory, and output a list of the files to the printer.
You could realize it with a composition on the command line, but it's hardly possible to realize this with a GUI application. The CLI provides facilities to add relations, data transmission from / to programs and (conditional) concatenation of program calls.
For GUI applications: The developer has to think about which options and possibilities of use he implements, while the CLI leaves this choice to the user, just providing the basal means.
In most cases, complex tasks involve complex ways of operations. It's up to the user which tool he choses to accomplish them. Some take more time, others take more need for interaction. Every tool where it belongs to.
Interesting approach.