Pico, Emacs or Vi ??
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- sparker0
lol
i think typing is more intuitive than trying to learn a point and click interface.
gui requires you to know where menus are, what short-cuts are, how and where to navigate around the interface to achieve the desired result...
cli requires you to know a few commands and type. what could be more intuitive for users? typing is the most basic use for a computer.
users spend more time typing things on a computer than anything else. you type email, you type code, you type papers.
designers are the only ones who solely point and click things...but, coming from a vast experience with autocad, i prefer the command line for design applications as well.
i would prefer photoshop have a command line that i could type in "pencil" and get the tool i needed instead of looking for the little icon, clicking on it, changing any settings i need by clicking on them and typing in my settings and then using the tool...
that's why i love autocad...type line - line tool is yours, draw or type in coordinates, done.
:)
but, it is all based on experience. i am more experienced with shell, so it's easier to use for me.
- davetufts0
vi is most universal - it's on every unix machine, and the syntax is exatly the same. the only problem is by the time you've mastered VI, you're a 50 year old fat unix admin with long hair and a grey beard. you'll be drinking 18 cups of coffee before lunch, and get excited talking about Charles Babbage
if a machine has emac, that's my personal preference, because it does everything short of brewing coffee
stay away from pico - it's an email editor NOT a full-featured text editor.
- sparker0
emacs is nearly as universal now...any release of linux or unix in the past few years has had it. unless you role your own distro and don't include it.
yea, but by the time you're that 50 year old fat unix admin, you're making such insane wealth off your skills that i could care less.
and, i already drink that much coffee...
:)
the aix admin at the corporate office i worked for made well over 100k a year because of his knowledge of ibm aix and unix. and he was not much older than i am.
i could live with a pay check like that for learning a little shell...
:)
- davetufts0
emacs still isn't installed (by default) on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Sun/Solaris, so you're pretty much stuck with vi.
by the way, FreeBSD rules.
- sparker0
it does. i just set up a new dns server running freeBSD 5.x
i dig it. i had it running on my thinkpad, but i was having trouble with x working correctly. so, i reformatted and put slackware linux back on.
:)
- ribit0
I still think these things should be more graphical...or at least be graphical-ready...If they then decide that they want to use text as the interface for good usability reasons...fine... but why stay in the 70's just because thats the way it's always been done?
Taking the photoshop example a bit furhter...you wouldn't want to type 'make a soft airbrush line up to the right, no down a bit, no left, hang on' would you?
I think even the shell could use an intelligent mix of 'classical' (plain text, move cursor around with arrow keys, type 'y' for yes etc..)and some modern interface elements... it could be a lot richer.
- sparker0
it's not because it's "the way it's always been" it's because it works effectively.
ui takes resources, cl doesn't. the wheel is a modest invention that hasn't changed since it's inception...same with a lot of things...cl is a great tool so it hasn't had a reason to change.
i don't understand the idea of making cl graphical? how would that work? are you talking like having little icons, etc? or better fonts or what?
because you edit the colors, layout, typeface, size, etc...all in the conf files to the terminal of choice...
it wouldn't be shell anymore if it was graphical.
gnome terminal is highly customizable...and allows for tabbed sessions and such. xterm is even customizable to a degree now.
- ribit0
My problem is I am forced to use a shell sometimes for some parts of our website setup... (I'm more of a content producer)... and it's just so BASIC. Luckily ther eare some graphical tools out there that can access thru the required protocols... I use Interarchy or transmit for Secure FTP over SSH, and Webmin has some file editors that you can run as root etc...
It's just sometimes I have to open the Terminal and edit some file contents..and thats when I can start to cause chaos...
- breeding0
vi is probably the most powerful
pico is by far the easiest to useand emacs is somewhere in the middle
for me its pico 75% of the time and emacs the rest
- myobie0
make the cli graphical...
thats what the mac did...
then winders 3.1...tell a unix man to wait 12 seconds while his text editor boots up?
nope...
you guys should realize that the cli has it uses...its the core of all computer systems...
its amazing that you all cannot appreciate the speed and efficiency of the cli...
i use vi to mess with my smb.conf to try to help out my mac os x (10.2) to better deal with winders machines on my network...
they still have to type a stupid password to browse my machine...don't know why...
when using vi, set showmode is essential...
- anon25730
thanks for the tips ... and to the people that called themselves designers and found this boring ( zzzzz ) - thats a shame ! you should learn this stuff - even if just a little - it'll work in your favour.
- KingMob0
if i wanted to show off my typing skills I'd be a receptionist, buddy...
- anon25730
well done ! thats just the point I'm making - multi talents will improve your chance of employment - don't forget personality though buddy !
- MimSync0
davetufts almost got it right: emacs CAN brew coffee.
you can even use emacs as your shell, goddammit.