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Learn Linux the Hard Way
An anonymous reader writes "Here is a free interactive beta of Learn Linux The Hard Way; a web-based virtual Linux environment which introduces the command line and other essential Linux concepts in 30 exercises. It's written in the style of Zed A. Shaw's Learn Code the Hard Way lessons. The authors says, 'You will encounter many detailed tables containing lists of many fields. You may think you do not need most of this information, but what I am trying to do here is to teach you the right way to approach all this scary data. And this right way is to interpret this data as mathematical formulas, where every single symbol has its meaning.' Of course, my first entry was rm -rf /* which only produced a stream of errors. I wish I had discovered something like a long time ago."
probably my last of the year
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I wish I had discovered something like a long time ago
A long time ago I wish I had discovered something like right now.
...slashdotted immediately
Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
Does this mean that Linux From Scratch is now considered the easy way?
Who will be the first to make a Puppet tutorial running multiple networked Linux instances in your browser?
The hard way is saying NO to Google, fora, newsgroups ant the like, and saying YES to Manpages, --help options, txt files that came with the package using cat maybe accompanied by | grep or | grep -v :-)
That is how I learned it in the mid-90's. Heck, google wasnt even there yet!
Anyway, I am going to do the course, see what I make of it
rm -rf --no-preserve-root /
try http://www.gentoo.org/
Linux From Scratch boosted my Linux knowledge about a hundredfold. I cut my teeth on a modified LFS 5.1. Following the instructions, while tedious, was doable and straightforward. What made it more difficult for me was that my host distro was a bit too old for the then-current LFS (5.1). With a slow and expensive internet connection, downloading an entire distro was out of the question. Downloaded the official tarballs, mixed and matched on my Celeron 366, and I eventually got it up and running.
Is there an easy way?
Might have saved me the past two decades...
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Maybe Zed should have read "IP Law for Dummies(*TM)" or "...revealed(*TM)" or "Learn...in 21 days.(*TM)" or "...in a nutshell(*TM)" or ...
There's an old Jack Tramiel quote about computer pricing (referring to Apple II prices):
"
We need to build computers for the masses, not the classes."
I believe that Linux can be for the masses as well:
Linux for the masses, not just those who have taken programming classes.
Things like this "Linux the Hard Way" is the last thing we need. We need better tutorials, better documentation in general, something "better" than crappy gnu info (there's nothing I hate more than a man page that directs me to use gnu info, how I hate that thing) Making Linux more non-nerd friendly makes it better for everyone. It even saves nerds time. I'm not just talking Ubuntu here, after all there was a time when Red Hat was considered the Linux Distro for the Masses. Personally in my Linux usage, I prefer to take the "Easy Button" way whenever possible, I have a "set it and forget it" philosophy and I like "reasonable defaults". Sure, some things are faster in a terminal, but even there I take the easy way by using mrxvt, and not the incomprehensible geek=favorite...gnu screen.
You mean there is an easy way?! Not everyone has a spare pc lying around so they can jump in with both feet. For most people installing linux means resizing the existing drive, partitioning and setting up a multi-boot...far from trouble/risk free, and far from easy
Site is down... someone is learning capacity planning the hard way.
while debugging autoconf, automake and config.guess scripts in your spare time.
What are you sitting there reading /. for? Better get going!
...that there was any easy way to learn Linux. Must be buried in the man pages somewhere.
I installed Ubuntu for my father who is in his 80's. Not only does he know nothing about Linux, he doesn't even know that he is using Linux.
The website is intended for people who actually want to open the hood and learn the internals. The point is to learn skills that employers will pay for.
Personally, I train green students with a formatted HDD and a Gentoo ISO. A rigorous and relevant curriculum produces technicians who can earn money and support their families. Many go on to lucrative careers in Linux system administration.
Of course, my first entry was rm -rf /* which only produced a stream of errors.
Try it again as root. =)
/* No Comment */
Sicne I've finally convinced my family to run Linux on both computers (only Windows before), it's about time for me to learn Linux. I've used his Learn Python the Hard Way before, and it was a great book. Definitely looking forward to this!
Makes it more 'efficent' to run "sudo rm -rf /*"
I did this on a FreeBSD 3.X machine years ago and still have fond memories :)
Then use the "easy button" and ignore the other stuff.
Different interfaces are developed for people who think and operate in different ways. Graphical interfaces are great for some people, while command driven interfaces are great for other people. Making the assumption that "geeks" will find graphical interfaces as easy to use as command driven interfaces is just as elitist as the assumption that "the masses" are ignorant because they cannot handle command driven interfaces. There is not a single "right way" to do things.
There's an easy way?
Things like this "Linux the Hard Way" is the last thing we need. We need better tutorials, better documentation in general
Agreed that better tutorials, better documentation, better defaults, and things that "Just Work (TM)" out of the box are wonderful and needed. But it's so easy to fall off the other slope when you start making "Linux for the masses" -- the needs of the "masses" are simply not the same as the needs of sysadmins and programmers. If you're not careful you get projects like Gnome and Windows 8 that hide everything useful in the name of the "Easy Button".
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous...
This...
Even the 'hard' distros are bad at it. For example Arch. Would it really have killed them to put the docs on the CD in the 'install.txt' or at least said where to get the docs? Oh I found them ... thru Google. The install.txt that is supposed to help you out is a cut and past from a web page where shockingly the hyperlinks are gone. Would a 20k 'get you up and running' guide really have killed them?
I am going thru the trouble of the 'hard' distros to figure out more about how these things glue together. Not for an exercise of where did you hide the docs this time and are they any good (arch's are ok). I have no prob with this sort of thing having cut my teeth on slack. But even that one is relatively easy once you understand its madness. Going to try gentoo and lfs next. Trying to remember some of this stuff I used nearly 15 years ago...
Why am I bothering with this pain? Because MS has grabbed the handle and is flushing as hard as it can. Apple is going to nickle and dime everyone out of the market as it is abundantly clear all they care about is making sure they are the only person with a ball. This means a lot as I was someone who did not see the big deal of MS including IE with its OS... Also learning this pain is good. It has helped me out of many tough jams over the years with MS systems. Rule #1 to writing software understand your tools. If I am going to write stuff using this I want a decent understanding of it.
You've just been Slashdotted..
Linux desktop is a mess man. Nothing just works as intended - it almost forces you to learn to use a shell..
While I agree with your post I think you are combining two extremes of Linux. "Linux Distributions" should be easy but Learning Linux should be hard. The masses should be able to choose a distribution that easy and will work out of the box (ala RHEL, Ubuntu, Linux Mint...). Learning Linux itself (kernels, command line, compiling from source, customize it to your liking) will never and shouldn't be easy because of the sheer amount of information. While condescending elitism has no place in any subject, I don't think something as open and complex as Linux will ever be easy. The masses should expect that web browsing, word processing, email and the occassional light game of solitaire should be easy. Hackers should expect to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty and occassionally fubar the system. As far as documentation and tutorials... Good Luck getting programmers to write something outside of comments.
Which will of course mean Linux becomes useless for those of us not inclined to stick to the shiny buttons and poke at the screen.
I would rather have less users, than cripple what we have now.
A common ground can be found, but it is hard. It means remembering that every program should run fine without X(even VLC has text output video), that the display and the program may not be on the same machine and that the pipe is still a useful tool. Frontends are nice, but if you program requires it you are already going down the wrong path.
If we give up on the fundamentals we might as well all move to windows 8 with touchscreens only.
lynx http://nixsrv.com/llthw
Cached version while it's down. I don't even see mention of curl! That zany CEO of FaceBook used it in that Social Network movie! It was so much hax! And there is only mention of installing files on debian/ubuntu, not with fedora's yum! Some people like to imagine they're eating really really really good food while they install stuff! And it needs more bangs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The G
Try 'urxvt'. It does tabbing like 'mrxvt'. It also has unicode support, and provides a daemon so every terminal runs under the same process. This saves memory and launches new terminals faster. You can even configure it to act like a quake console, if you're a yakuake fan. IMO urxvt is far and away the best terminal emulator around.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
What this guy said. TFA isn't an attempt to make Linux difficult, it's a difficult crash course on *learning* linux. It should be easy to use, but learning in a difficult way still has a lot of value for people who need to deal with things in a more in-depth way.
http://uni.xkcd.com/
"Saves nerds time" to do what, specifically?
What's getting mixed here, is 'Learn to use a Linux Distro as a home computer' and 'Learn how Linux works'.
SMFACA (sue me for a car-analogy), but it's learning how to own and operate a car, versus how to fix them.
"Linux the Hard Way" is a reaction to the problem that it's no longer clear to new wrench-oriented curious folk just how to Learn how Linux works. Google buries them with Ubuntu-docs, 'power user tips', and dev talk.
I don't disagree that the documentation at the manpage level still needs work. But improved manpages will show up in this HardWay project the moment they exist; that's a separate issue. HardWay is just about framing the exercise at the correct level for new people wanting to learn the nuts'n'bolts.
You can also check out this http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=16 website. It has tutorials on programming by video which is great for a newbie to learn quickly and get the basic idea, afterwards you will be comfortable in advancing yourself but not with this site try other sites like dr.dobbs for advance algorithms and such. I think windows 8 has an app that organizes everything in thenewboston.org tutorials very nicely just type c++ programming search in app store and you will find it.
With linux it took me sometime to learn(learn the command line) how to fix problems through the terminal. In the beginning I wasted hours just hunting down the solutions(my point of view it was fragmented all over the internet) online to the problems I was having with linux but afterwards it got easier and I started fixing things a lot faster. It's actually a lot easier to fix linux problems today than windows problems. Microsoft problems and solutions are broad and vague, it could be anything causing windows going flaky but linux is just straight forward with the problems and solutions.
So, the intro goes on about how you need to take the time to learn the details, even the little things that you think you can skip for the time being. The example given is the output of ls -l. We are told that we will never understand Linux if we gloss over the confusing bits. We must dive in and know what each element of the output means.
And to do so, we're given a full in-browser emulator that boots Linux including pages and pages of boot-time console messages. Where's the explanation for these? Why is it okay to gloss over them when it's not okay to gloss over parts of a directory listing? Wouldn't "the hard way" be to start with the very first console message and work through the boot process?
Or is this just the author's way of saying, "You need to learn all the details up to the level that I know them. But the stuff I don't know about, like all that console garbage, isn't important anyway."?
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
3. Download this file: vm1.ova (427 MB). Another link: vm1.ova
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89397384/vm1.ova
Did somebody mirror that ?
Kinda curious what is in it.
Agreed. *I* use linux and I couldn't care less if linux desktop market share ever rises above 1%, and as you say it would just turn into mass market shit if it rose to 90% anyway. We already have a shitty version of linux. It's called OS X.
How big is Ferrari's share of the share of the automobile market?
The problem with your idea is that you are assuming that Linux as it exists today is a bad consumer desktop OS. From a certain perspective this is true.
Linux is not really anything in and of itself. It is a platform for constructing other things. You can use a Linux system to serve web pages, crunch numbers, or throw some eye candy on the screen, but the project itself will always be focused around the ease of use for people who are building such things, and not the end users.
In fact, the versatility of Linux is precisely what conflicts with its ease of use. Leaving aside UI concerns regarding the paradox of choice, it is impossible to optimize of all tasks simultaneously. In a more specific context, much of the graphical stuff that makes your desktop use easier are anti-features in other domains.
I am completely fine with Linux not ever being more than a niche desktop contender. I am even fine with people occasionally turning it into a locked-down playskool user toy every now and then. For people to hold up the toy and say "All Linux should be like this!" is to completely misunderstand the point of both Linux and the toy, and the processes that produced them both.
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
In my early Linux days my first real Linux system was my Sony P3 600 laptop circa 2001. I got Debian working 100% about a month prior to that and I had quite a few documents and other files I created. I was trying to delete every file in a directory, probably some tar ball, and ran "rm -rf *". It looked good until I opened up my home directory and found nothing. WTF! Then I realized that I ran that command in the root of my home directory because I was in the wrong terminal window. Man I was pissed.
That needs to be in large bold caps. I've gotten a few of those "Google it. You can do this" comments, too, without even the courtesy of suggesting appropriate search terms. Obviously I don't know them, if my searches so far haven't done better than land me on that forum. Lack of an easy, fast clear way to find current answers is the biggest thing holding linux back.
A) OS X is Unix based, not Linux. The Linux kernel is not present on the system, and from what I recall, most of the tools are BSD tools, rather than GNU tools. Android is perhaps the closest thing we have to a "shitty linux", but I'd take it in a heartbeat over iOS or Windows 8 (especially on ARM). It's more just obnoxiously locked down than inherently shitty (though on some devices, the hardware support is less than ideal).
B) While I don't necessarily need to see the Linux desktop market share rise over 1%, the rising userbase does tend to result in more driver availability, which is a Good Thing (TM). This issue could be mitigated with more manufacturers shipping with Linux preinstalled (thus theoretically coming along with hand picked Linux friendly hardware), but as for me anyway, it hasn't been particularly had to just do that myself on a desktop. The laptop area is the only place I'd really like to see a little improvement. The mobile market is already dominated by Linux to begin with.
Making the assumption that "geeks" will find graphical interfaces as easy to use as command driven interfaces is just as elitist as the assumption that "the masses" are ignorant because they cannot handle command driven interfaces. There is not a single "right way" to do things.
While I agree, for the most part, the problem is there aren't "Easy Button" methods to do certain things that there should be "Easy Buttons" for. And many things aren't explained or documented clearly.
As for whether geeks might find GUI's useful. I've been using Linux since 2002, while I find some things easier in a terminal, there are others that I prefer to use a GUI for.
Yes, indeed, we need to dumb linux down to the point where it is useless to us, in order to convince people that dont like it and want something entirely different... wait, why?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
the needs of the "masses" are simply not the same as the needs of sysadmins and programmers.
That is true, but there are more people who are NOT sysadmins and programmers than are. The FSF doesn't say it's goal is to create "Free" software for just sysadmins or programmers. Though it seems they focus most of their efforts of software only sysadmins and programmers use...and that's a serious fault in my opinion. Everyone deserves good "Free" software, from the person coding C in emacs to the person who wants something like "Print Shop" on Linux.
If you're not careful you get projects like Gnome and Windows 8 that hide everything useful in the name of the "Easy Button".
Personally I blame Win8, Gnome3, and Unity on programmers who "think" they know what the masses want, because the masses buy lots of phones/tablets, but don't actually talk to the masses to see what they want on a desktop.
[...] something "better" than crappy gnu info (there's nothing I hate more than a man page that directs me to use gnu info, how I hate that thing)
I feel your pain. I can't stand info either. Maybe if I had to use it more frequently, I would finally memorize the keybindings, but even then I find it awkward to use. I'm not ashamed to admit that I tend to fall back to an easier, more masses-compatible way of reading info pages: KDE's KIO slaves. I just hit Alt-F2 and type "info:gettext", which displays the info contents for GNU gettext in a browser as a set of nicely formatted HTML pages. All manpages and info pages are also browsable and listed alphabetically in the KDE help center. (Of course, that wouldn't work if the info pages are only available on a remote server, but I can't remember that ever coming up.) Not sure about Gnome and other desktop environments, but they probably have something similar.
In short, if there's a hard way and an easy way to do it, and they both give the same result... I'm a geek, not a masochist.
CJ
Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
but Learning Linux should be hard
Why, why should it be hard? Should we keep on going on about "sweat equity" and "RTFM" until no one but sysadmins and programmers uses it?
Learning Linux itself (kernels, command line, compiling from source, customize it to your liking) will never and shouldn't be easy
I'm going to be BadCarAnalogyPerson for a moment:
To use a car I don't need to know about thermodynamics or how gas-air mixtures behave under pressue...I just need to know how to drive it. To use a TV, I don't need to know the ins and outs of NTSC/ATSC specifications or about how CRT guns are magnetically aimed, or how LCD crystals twist when a current is applied, I just need to turn it on.
Why should Linux be different. As a "User" (which is not a dirty word) I don't need to know about how kernel messages work or what they even are, I don't even need to know how to write C. I don't even have to know about compiling from source. If I want to customize my Linux install, why can't I use a GUI do do most of, or even ALL of the work?
I don't think something as open and complex as Linux will ever be easy. The masses should expect that web browsing, word processing, email and the occassional light game of solitaire should be easy.
The FSF doesn't just talk about hackers and programmers, even though that's the only people they seem to write software for. Don't the masses deserve a high quality "Free" operating system that can do the things they want to do?
Which will of course mean Linux becomes useless for those of us not inclined to stick to the shiny buttons and poke at the screen.
Why does that have to be the case, even in the most "Linux for the Masses" distros, they still have development tools and you can still live in emacs in a terminal, or god forbid on the console if you want.
But we still don't have good documentation or "Easy Button" tools for some tasks.
I would rather have less users, than cripple what we have now.
Who says it would be crippled. For example, just because GUI tools exist doesn't mean neckbearded suspender wearing Unix-y graybeards have to use them. Just like the fact that GNU screen exists, doesn't mean I can't use an easier to use tabbed terminal.
It means remembering that every program should run fine without X(even VLC has text output video),
I don't agree with that, some things are better done graphically. Besides, I can't imagine things like Minecraft, or even something like a paint program not using X.
"Saves nerds time" to do what, specifically?
Things other than configuring or troubleshooting their computer...like actually "using" it for the tasks they want to do.
"Linux the Hard Way" is a reaction to the problem that it's no longer clear to new wrench-oriented curious folk just how to Learn how Linux works. Google buries them with Ubuntu-docs, 'power user tips', and dev talk.
The problem is, that some Linux users hold up things like "Linux the Hard Way" as the way Linux should be for everyone. That if you're not a programmer or sysadmin you shouldn't be using it. And those people have "loud voices" on the internet. Linux already has a reputation for being harder to use than it actually is...if non-programmer non-sysadmin me can learn how to use it...and yes even learn how to compile.....then anyone can.
As a side note, my first Linux was Linux for the Playstation 2. Heard about the Linux kit here on Slashdot, though it would be an interesting way to add additional functionality to my PS2 and learn about the "Linxu thing" Slashdotters were going on about. At the time...I was browsing Slashdot on a WebTV....didn't have a Windows machine at that time.
So I pre-ordered the kit, bought some Linux books, joined the PS2 Linux forums and learned to use it. Linux on the PS2 wasn't some modern "Easy Button" distro like modern Ubuntu or even YDL on the PS3....it was Red Hat 6 based...on MIPS, so I had to compile "everything" not included. My first compile was "gaim", second was Abiword.....my god were some compiles long.
Now I use Fedora on X86, its even easier. If I could learn to use Linux, anyone can.
You are combining high level and low level usage when my comment tries to separate the two. If you want to use "Linux" then you pick a distribution and learn how to use the menus to run applications, learn how to use the file manager to access files (which has been simplifed to Documents, Desktop, Pictures) and finally learn how to use a gui package manager to keep it updated (Updates available...blah..blah...click yes to install). If you want to learn "Linux" then you pick a shell and learn how to use it, you pick a scripting language and learn how to use it, you pick a desktop/window manager and learn how to customize it, download source code and learn how to compile it.... That is hard work so you have to put in the effort. BadCarAnalogy: The masses learn the bare minimum to drive safely on the road then they pick a car based on color, speed/gas mileage and "OOH Look Shinies". A mechanic/engineer needs to know about thermodynamics or how gas-air mixtures behave under pressure. I don't need to know the cubic square feet of a hemi engine block but I do need to know which car has the easiest onscreen display to play music and get directions (not Ford Sync). Now if I want to pimp my ride then I'm going to learn how the car works so I can bend it to my will. The masses don't learn Linux, hackers and programmers do.
I am not sure why it has to be the case, but look at ubuntu and unity. Enough said. If that was not enough said think what unity does to FFM and other geek type norms.
Whenever something becomes very popular it does that by sacrificing everything at the alter of that. Look at the worlds most popular beer, bud light, it got that way by being very nearly water.
Your easy to use tabbed terminal solves different problems than screen. Screen is great because I can use it remotely and detach and reattach at will. Some times big boys run programs that take a long time and may not play well with tools like nohup.
Lots of image editors and image manipulation software have command line interfaces for automated changes to images. Even if you can't imagine it, they exist for a damn good reason. Even games. Hosting a minecraft server should not require a display. There is very little that is done better graphically if you ever want to be able to automate it or extend it in the future. A nice example of that is emulators that launch from a cli making it possible to use one GUI tool for lots of them. If each emulator had its own gui and did not take command input that would not be possible.
Try this link instead.
Things like this "Linux the Hard Way" is the last thing we need.
Didn't work so well for Windows Vista and Windows 8 that claim to be "simplified" user interfaces. I'd rather have something that is capable of doing things, rather than takes out features I might use. Sure, making it easy to acces the web via one click and word processing is important, but this type of tutorial is actually useful for real people and is a counter to the useless mantle piece books called "Learning X for Dummies" (you have to be a dummy to understand what the hell they are on about).
The difference is, in Linux 80-90% of the commands stay the same for ages, while in Windows they change 80-90% of the stuff around all the time. ;-P
Actually, no. For instance, in RHEL, system-config-network is what one would use in order to configure networking, while service network restart would be what one has to do once it's done to get things up & running. But I've tried doing the same w/ other distros, and it just doesn't work. Not to mention that in Linux, different distros freely mess around w/ the locations of config files and others, so what you know from, say, RHEL can't easily be transferred to what you know in, say, Debian.
What you are thinking about is actually true in the BSDs, where commands that were known years ago in BSD Unix are still valid today.
I would like those who put together software for Linux under just ports/makefiles to be required to actually try doing them under different distros, and see what it's like. Maybe they'll learn something about why .deb, .rpm packages are sooooo much better.
I mean the hard was *is* the better way, I mean why use those pesky function keys or use the GUI slider, when you can
echo 7 | sudo tee /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
That's why my Kubuntu 12.10 has prevented the Fn keys or the brightness slider in the power option from *actually* performing any action. It's for our own benefit! The fact the they function in Lubuntu is clearly to our disadvantage, KDE is looking after our long term interest, unlike those pesky LXDE guys.
Vive le Linux!
----
Sarcasm side, I have nothing against learning bash commands or getting to know the depth of the the system,. I mean, who can argue that sudo apt-get whatever is faster and neater than going into synaptic or muon or whatever... But for humanity's sake, let us learn on *our* pace, don't force it down our throats, check if the god damn GUI works, even if *you* will never use it.
Let them decide, to use an example, if they want to sudo apt-get install && sudo apt-get update or want to click the system update button on the muon popup. See, I am a friggin' accountant, I am not even supposed to understand the word linux and yet here I am discussing some simple commands, but albeit those which I learnt on my *own* pace, I don't appreciate that for simple functions I have bring out the Konsole, and it's not one of those "we don't have the drivers" type excuses, acpi_video0 is a generic folder, not specific to any particular video card or screen (AFAIK), surely they could check to see if the damn slider works?
I am sorry for the rant, it's just that I had to remove an otherwise working Kubuntu install because of this and other minor niggles, let's see if the latest LM has these minor issues fixed...
You know what will be the year of Linux on desktop? When they make a distro that forgets to contain a console, and no one notices...
I am an ACCA student. Got a query on Accountancy/Finance? Maybe I can help!
Who the fuck would do this shit without falling asleep in the first 10 minutes? Its much easier to just install and use Kubuntu. Some people have way too much time on their hands.
Screen is great because I can use it remotely and detach and reattach at will.
Yes, I know screen can do that, but how many times in this age of constant reliable always on connections do you use it.?
Some times big boys run programs that take a long time and may not play well with tools like nohup.
And there's that elitism I was referring to in that "big boys" comment. Sure if you're a sysadmin wanting to monitor a compile you started at 4:50 at home, yeah the ability to "dtach" might be handy,....but most people aren't sysadmins or hackers...not even Linux users.
Lots of image editors and image manipulation software have command line interfaces for automated changes to images.
Yes, I know, Imagemagick and the like for batch processing...but there's still GUI image editors that use X and don't do batch processing because they're not for that.
Even games. Hosting a minecraft server should not require a display.
I'm not talking about "game servers" but actual games.
There is very little that is done better graphically if you ever want to be able to automate it or extend it in the future.
Not everything benefits from automation.
My favorite linux command looks like an idiotic smiley: :(){:&:&};:
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Aparently it takes a space: :(){ :;:;};:
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Grrr, I need some sleep: :(){ :&:&};:
Non-Linux Penguins ?
I use screen daily. How else would I run user interacting programs that take 12+ hours to run some activities. Think database rebuilds and the like. Sure that is not the most common usecase, but I would rather not be crippled because you want teh shiny and all your friends to run linux.
Pointing out a use case professionals have is not elitism it is reality. This is just like the people who flipped when final cut was updated and nerfed to make it easier for noobs.
You might not be speaking about game servers, but I have seen them that require a display because they run the whole game to run. That is insane. That is the sort of braindead thinking your ideas bring with them.
Sure that is not the most common usecase, but I would rather not be crippled because you want teh shiny and all your friends to run linux.
How is having the shiny and having more people like me running Linux, "crippling you."? Did I say I want tools like screen removed? No. What I want is more non-sysadmin friendly tools. Do you want to go back to the days of absolutely having to edit your /etc/printcap file manually rather than having a nice GUI tool (several nice GUI tools) for managing printers?
You might not be speaking about game servers, but I have seen them that require a display because they run the whole game to run. That is insane. That is the sort of braindead thinking your ideas bring with them.
While I do understand your point about some things needing headless support, there is such a thing as X11 Forwarding. Also "my ideas" aren't about braindead thinking. I'm talking "more" options for non-sysadmin/non-neckbeard users, not taking away options from those users.
I think it is much more time consuming to move files via a ftp gui than to use scp to transfer them...so the "easy button," in that instance turned out to be cmd line
Wish I'd started with a guide like this to dive into! :-)
http://nathanlindsell.blogspot.com/