On 07/20 04:33 , r j wrote:
> I am taking  a tech writing class. I am writing an argument paper citing
> the benefits of using the command line VS the GUI. I would appreciate
> any opinions you would like to share.

This quote from your .sig sums up the GUI vs. CLI debate in some ways:

> I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
> hell        - Harry S Truman

There's a lot of people profoundly stuck in their ways on how they manage
computers. I admit to being one of them. :) Challenging people's core
beliefs is not an easy thing; and the debate challenges those beliefs.

> Do you think administration if faster using the command line ?

I think this is a poor question.
Allow me to compare and contrast the CLI and the GUI with a couple of
aphorisms.

The command line allows you to speak to your computer in complete sentences
instead of using a point-and-grunt interface.

The command line is like a blank sheet of paper. Frightening if you don't
know what to do with it, but full of possibilities that only you can imagine
if you know how to write the story.

Unix does not stop you from doing stupid things, because stopping you from
doing stupid things would also stop you from doing clever things. - Doug
Gwyn

The corollary to the above statement is:
Windows is pretty good at stopping you from doing stupid things. - "Uncle
Melkor"

The GUI guides you through a limited set of options. It shows you some
limited possibilities. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because it cuts
down on the time up front that you need to spend learning the tool, and if
you will never need to use the tool for any extensive or complex work, this
saves you time overall.

The CLI (provided it is well-designed and powerful, like bash) allows you to
chain together components in ways that the GUI cannot by its very nature
allow. Given time and creativity, this allows you to express complex ideas
that make the computer do the repetetive tasks that it's good at.


> How long did it take you to learn the GUI ?

I haven't learned a GUI. I have to re-learn some of most GUIs every time I
use them, because they change so much from version to version.


> How long did it take you to learn to use the command line ?

This is sort of like asking 'how long did it take you to learn to write a
novel?'. One never finishes learning, one only gets better at putting the
words together into phrases and expressing ideas with them. Fortunately,
words don't change much over time.

> What are the major benefits of the command line ?

complexity of ideas you can express to the computer.
 
> What are the major benefits of using the GUI ?

complexity of data it can express to the user.
GUIs allow graphs and other complex multidimensional data representations;
whereas the CLI (strictly speaking, not including curses here) only allows
numerical representations or crude character-based graphs.


Synthesizing the above two ideas together, you end up with something like
AutoCAD; where you can express your ideas with a command line, but recieve
the result graphically.

Some other examples are the Vimperator plug-in for Firefox, and the wmii
window manager. I encourage you to try them.
 
> Do you think something was lost when the GUI came out ?

Warning: some exceedingly broad correlations and conflations follow. GUI !=
'the web' and 'the web' != 'the Internet' but for most practical purposes
these days it does.

Yes. For better or for worse, the GUI helps people do simple tasks more
easily. It removed one 'filter' that prevented people with low skills and
low willingness to learn from using the computer. This caused a lot of pain
for those of us who viewed the society of computer enthusiasts as a retreat
from the 'great unwashed masses'. Users started pouring onto the Internet
with little idea what they were doing, and a very limited number of people
with good netiquette to learn from. The result was top-posing and untrimmed
replies and permanent caps lock.

However, even with all the knuckleheads out there defecating their unformed
and uninformed ideas on the Internet; it has turned out to be a largely
positive thing. Communication is always beneficial; and the more
opportunity there is for more people to communicate, the better off we all
are. Consider the difference between the knowlege the public had of WW2
compared to Vietnam compared to Desert Storm compared to Afghanistan.
Consider how much more we know about the outrageous legislation being passed
in Washington; and how much more we know about people who are just refusing
to comply with it and ignore a government they don't believe serves them
anymore.

And most people have learned to turn off caps lock. ;)


-- 
Carl Soderstrom
Systems Administrator
Real-Time Enterprises
www.real-time.com