[Glastonbury] Finding files (was Re: New to it)

[Kelvin McNulty]

There really are many types of new user.

I'm kindof unusual in that I am quite happy on command lines whereas a lot are 
not. I know one person (not on this list) who hates using the Windows command 
line but having used that under MS-DOS in the days before Windows (1985 to 
1993) and having used Unix command line language in 1979 I was delighted to 
discover that all the same commands still work today under Linux. Being used 
to command lines and being a touch typist makes the keyboard much easier to 
use than the mouse for me. Getting what I want by punching a sequence of keys 
feels very easy and safe and generally is tolerant of mistakes (one key wrong 
makes for an error other than wiping something out but there are exceptions 
e.g. on MS-DOS doing del star dot star without first selecting the floppy 
drive would wipe the hard disc...if it didn't warn you, and the early ones 
didn't). But to folks whose first experience of computing was on an Apple Mac 
or even on Windows and who never used the command line then the latter must 
feel totally alien.

But I have got quite used to clicking and dragging files around (using 
Konqueror under KDE which really is bril for FTP and local file management 
IMHO) and that really does knock spots off moving files about using the 
command line - and is less error prone.

Thanks for the feedback about Gnome and about KDE under Ubuntu, that 
encourages me to try Ubuntu next time I have a spare PC.

I use locate (not slocate) under SuSE after an updatedb.

and then the wonderful

grep

following the pipe character (|) to pick out the things I want. I just love 
Grep, one can do quite complex and subtle searches with it... heaps faster 
and less fussy than using Micro$oft's Search under Windows Manager in XP.

and a really great feature of the modern shells is being able to copy text 
using the mouse and paste it using shift insert... discovering or being shown 
each of these things was an Aha moment for me and although I cannot use the 
mouse heavily for long periods (causes grief in my shoulder and arm and eyes) 
it does have its uses and I would find it hard without one.

Kelvin

On Saturday 18 December 2004 14:51, Ian Dickinson wrote:
> Martin Wheeler <mwheeler at startext.co.uk> wrote:
> > <micturition::pyrotechnics />
>
> Taken literally, that could be a decidedly dangerous
> pastime :-)
>
> > I really *really* hate to do this guys, but
> > for a new user for whom the above is akin to Martian
> > (encrypted), what on earth is wrong with
> > whereis firefox