The Command Line - Best Newbie Interface?

An anonymous reader writes "This essay describes the surprising results of a brief trial with a group of new computer users about the relative ease of the command line interface versus the GUIs now omnipresent in computer interfaces. It comes from practical experience I have of teaching computing to complete beginners or newbies as computer power-users often term them."

Comments

Unix CLI is NOT easy

[Anonymous Coward]

The Unix/*nix/*nux CLI is not easy. It is a major design flaw that the file name "jones.txt" is treated different than "joNes.txt".

If you want the best of both worlds, try the Amiga CLI, which has many features of *nix, but does not take case-sensitivity to this useless extreme.

Good point on OS X, however. It is Apple's first serious OS. The previous ones were hard to use and crippled due to the lack of a CLI.

Re:The 'help' command

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should we be handholding these lusers? Sure I have the BOFH mentality, but is it so wrong to think that perhaps these people should open a book before they try to operate some technical equipment? People who operate cars, airplanes, and nuclear reactors all have some sort of rudimentary training. Why is there such a psychopathological fear of reading a book rather than inituitively figuring something out? Do you look somehow stupider by reading the instruction manual when you put together your Lego Mindstorm than someone who fumbles around? Is a man who can't intuitively program his VCR somehow less of a man?

Please don't thank me

[Pan T. Hose]

Hey, this program works EXACTLY as the (Score:5, Insightful) idea in nokilli's post The 'help' command! I have just installed it according to the instruction posted here (please mod it up as well) and now every command below works perfectly!

Yes, I was strictly following the specifications posted by nokilli.

Yes, the last one tells me to use df!!! Just like the insightful idea of nokilli! Wow! I didn't know it was possible.

It was possible. Otherwise I wouldn't have written it, now whould I? But seriously: nothing is impossible in Linux. Nothing. And that is the true power of free software. Always remember that. I really hope my program will serve you well. All of you.

Thanks a lot, Pan T. Hose!

Please don't thank me. I only did my duty as a free software developer and a Slashdot community member.

Mods: PLEASE MOD PARENT UP!

Thank you. You are very kind.