Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 30th May 2008 07:54 UTC, submitted by fairynomo
Tuesday, we linked to an interview with one of the creators of AWK, over at ComputerWorld. From the same series comes an interview with Chat Ramney, maintainer of BASH, the Bourne Again Shell. BASH is the default shell on most UNIX systems, and has been ported to Windows, MS-DOS, the Amiga, and just about everywhere else.
Thread beginning with comment 316325
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Recent Original Stories
Recent Comments
Headlines
Random Comments
Random Stories
Random OS Link
Member since:
2006-10-08
I think you made some valid points here, allthough they may be off-topic.
First: The topic is titeled "The A-Z of Programming Languages: BASH". Users don't care about programming languages, not about their nature, their purposes, their syntax or even their pure existance. So letting the user enter the field of discussion is not useful. You could attach this kind of statement to nearly any topic at OSNews: "The user doesn't need to know about the OS, he just uses his applications."
Second: Using bash is about optimizing your work, making it efficient, wasting less time, gaining knowledge, learning. These are things that do not matter to a user.
Third: Users insist on UI applications. That's completely okay. They do use what a programmer (see first and next idea) gives into their hands. They don't do enything beside that.
Fourth: Programming is about ceativity. Users don't create, they use. NB: It's worth mentioning that they do create things using their applications, but they do not create things releated to these applications. Oh, by the way... Forth is a programming language, too. :-)
Fifth: Using bash may not be required to use a computer, but it may be more useful than using given GUI driven applications if certain reasons can be applied. This is a "can statement", no force. You can see it the same way as you see tools: It's not required to use an electric drill to put your pictures on the wall. You can use gaspipe pliers to beat a nail into the wall, or you can use glue. But on some walls, the electric drill is the best solution.
Sixth: Using bash is not about making things "more difficult"; having the last iead still in mind, using anything than bash could be seen as making things "more difficult", e. g. applying postprocessing rules to a described set of image files under certain conditions (bash: iteration, conditions, call to program "convert" with certain parameters).
Just some ideas.
Having used different programming languages over the years, I may say that I took the chance to learn more about this topic. I gained more and more knowledge about how things work, beginning with algorithmic considerations and ending in how to write a certain piece of code. This puts me into a position where I can offer a solution an "average GUI guy" falls into a state of agony because it's too difficult for him. And in most cases, the solution is very simple - you just need to be able to see it.
If everybody would think the way you mentioned that nobody would be using computers anymore, because they are "too difficult." :-)
Edited 2008-05-30 22:06 UTC