Comments on: The Importance of Command Line Literacy

By: zamin

zamin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

This is so true. Changing file name is the most reason I’m still using my console box.

By: sargetech

sargetech — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The command line is power!!!

By: munguia.carlos

munguia.carlos — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Is most faster work in the command line , linux is the best

By: benukemenam

benukemenam — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

In my opinion, the command line is of key importance in all unix flavours.

By: garycarneiro

garycarneiro — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

command line is fun thanks to guys who developed bash and bash completion feature !

By: unixmarcelo

unixmarcelo — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Command line is very important POWER tool for linux UNIX and MS- Windows. Yes you read corect, this is for Windows one important tool too.

By: hexram

hexram — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

As a seasoned UNIX/Linux user and teacher, I find that most users prefer GUI over command line because they don’t like to think. Even experienced users that configure their working environment to suit their fancies fall in this category when their startup scripts resemble “War and Peace” as more and more aliases, functions and the like find a way into them ‘just because they are cool’. Granted, technology tends to avail this behavious as hardware crunches more and more CPU cycles by unit time and end users doesn’t suffer from waiting time over their terminals anymore. Maybe, while some rain falls outside your office and you feel bored, instead of walking down to the coffeemaker, give your startup scripts a look or two to remove obsolete, redundant or cancelling definitions and you will refresh your knowledge and also will speed up a couple of nanoseconds your waiting time at the console.

By: ankit1983

ankit1983 — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

CLI is the best interface for anybody who wants to finish job smartly.

By: frankmesen

frankmesen — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

If you know what you are doing, the CLI is an excellent weapon.
If you don’t know what you are doing, the CLI is an excellent weapon!!!!!!
Weapons should be handled carefully.

By: tesla.coil

tesla.coil — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

hi i have been using windows for over 7-8 years and i recently installed ubuntu and been using it from a month ( in GUI mode) and recently i happend to join some networking classes ,where iam currently learning RHCE ,what i really loved abt it was the commands! the shell commands! i never used the CLI mode( in windows obviously) and never knew that learning to use CLI mode be so much fund and rewarding as well , now am all over it and really loving the unix commands ,its been just couple of weeks since i started using the bash commands and am working pretty hard at it,well i wasnt taught much abt the basic unix commands considering the fact that the more importance was over system administration and network administration ( in the RHCE course) so i got my self a book on unix shell programming and started reading it, what i love abt CLI mode is i exactly know what am doing and what the possible outcome can be ..which doesnt happen in the GUI mode! well thanks a lot for the article it was really worth reading and lastly can u guys advice me on how to master the command mode :D

By: lnxrcks

lnxrcks — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The difference between CLI and GUI is the same as the one between a language and a phrasebook. Using the CLI, you can tell your computer exactly what you want and get the appropriate answer. Using a GUI application, you can only tell your computer what the GUI programmer has defined. Needless to say, it is well worth the effort to learn how to speak efficiently to your computer.

By: snickels

snickels — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I believe each, gui versus command line, both have advantages and disadvantages. Command line is more powerful from the standpoint that its commands let you do a lot, but that also makes it a bit harder to learn because there are so many commands and parameters to remember. With the command line, you have to be quite a bit more aware of typos. Doing a simple “rm f*.dip” when you ment to do rm “fp*.dip” could make your day more difficult. A couple days later you come back and wonder where did all the files starting fa*.dip go??? You needed them. Deleting the files using a GUI might not be as fast, but you do get immediate visual feedback of the files marked for deletion. Many times I need to find out the IP address of my Windows box. Do I go through all the GUI menus to find it? No, I open a command prompt box and enter “ipconfig”. So, I like the command line for some things, and I like using a GUI for other things. I think they can (and should) coexist.

By: framness

framness — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I run Slack at home and when I log in I bring up KDE, but when working on my system (or goofing around) I always have at least one (often multiple) CLI sessions open.

One thing that IMO makes Unix/Linux superior is it is a true data-processing system, you can work applications interactively or using the CLI you can create powerful batch or scheduled processes. If I was doing my web development on a windows system I would have to manually FTP & manage website backups daily. With Linux I have a system already in place and I use a combination of Perl and bash to do that work. I like the idea every application I have I can think of can be run via CLI calls or via GUI bolt-on in my preferred windows manager.

If all you are doing is GUI work than it may not make sense to use Linux to really get the most benefit you have to use the CLI.

By: dbierer

dbierer — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I find the CLI most useful when using ‘ssh’ to manage remote systems and also creating ‘cron’ jobs. Set up a script for a customer the other day, triggering at midnight, which uses ‘find’ to search for files older than 30 days and remove them. In another case I had to change the filename extensions for a whole slew of files. A simple ‘ls’ command, piped to ‘cut’ with ‘.’ as the delimiter and I had my raw filename. Piped that output through a loop and all my files had new extensions. Heady stuff :-)

By: zayar43

zayar43 — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The best way of linux life!!!

By: mrhammer

mrhammer — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I have been working IT for 20+ years. Mainframe, unix, windows, dec/vax, and other all offer CLI as PRIMARY means of command and control. GUI vs. CLI is old comparison. I like the fact that GUI can make you productive for relatively common tasks (browsing folders, launching applications, simple file managment). for complicated tasking and goals – all programmers should know CLI for systems they support. It is like knowing long division vs. using a calculator. Real appreciation for the operating systems comes from the command line. GUIs are notorious for isolating the IT professional from the OS (especially unix).

thanks

By: garzon.lucero

garzon.lucero — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I know white spaces and the like should be avoided in filenames. That said, it is sad to see

$ for f in *.c
> do cp -p $f OLD_$f
> done

rather than

$ for f in *.c
> do cp -p "$f" "OLD_$f"
> done

in an introductory example. This stuff is particularly confusing for beginners, let alone when it appears incorrectly in a magazine of record.

By: tbenson

tbenson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I am a newbie…well, have been using Linux for basic computing needs for about 2 years now, but have recently started digging into the wealth of knowledge from sources such as this article. I am thoroughly impressed with the Linux community — the developers, users…everyone. This is a very useful article and I will look forward to more like it. Thanks.

By: jeanerpp

jeanerpp — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Command line is good.
It is very common that GUI is not available.

By: tdyess@dysr.com

tdyess@dysr.com — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

rm -rf /*