[HLUG] Command Line Witchcraft?

[Malcolm Herbert]

i learnt to use vi whilst at Poly 25 years ago; a 1970's editor with
querky commands and an ancient interface; why was i learning this ?

i still use it everyday (nope, never got on with emacs) and still does
things a lot of GUI editors can't

my VAX / PDP11 days also mean command line wins everytime; sure you can
do damage, but you have the power you don't have with a GUI interface.
scripts, loops, aliases and repitition etc

Malc

On Tue, 2010-02-23 at 11:56 +0000, Sarah Chard wrote:
> Richard
> 
> I know what you mean - in my limited experience of trying to talk
> friends who rarely use their PC through a standard procedure (over the
> phone) it can get very confusing - 
> 
> But having said that GUI's feel much safer for non command line users
> because they are self limiting - you can only do the prescribed actions
> and (should) end up with the required result - you don't want to step
> outside of the box just go from A to B. Because they are self limiting
> there is less to remember and you don't have to understand the process
> just press the button and get the result.
> 
> As part of my job I often teach circus skills to adults and children
> many of whom think (or often have been told they have) they have no
> co-ordination or indeed may have co-ordination problems. It's those who
> have no fear of failure who are usually the fastest and most persistent
> learners but everyone can learn these skills - some people will be
> better than others but even people with Dyspraxia can achieve if they
> are taught in the right way.
> 
> In other words whether you prefer cli vs gui may depend partly on the
> 'way your brain is wired' but largely on the way you have been taught to
> use a computer and if you have had little experience of using cli then
> your fear of failure will be the mental block which will stop you even
> beginning to learn.
> 
> -- 
> Kind regards
> Sarah Chard
> Streetentertainers
> t 07778 615384
> f 0871 5289024
> m sarah at streetentertainers.co.uk
> 
> 
> On Tue, 2010-02-23 at 10:47 +0000, Richard Smedley wrote:
> > But GUIs are so difficult to navigate ppl through remotely.
> > They are self-limiting, and rely on motion/direction, which
> > is difficult, rather than words, which are the way we think :)
> 
> > 
> > ..however I've come to the conclusion that it's not
> > simply cli vs gui, it's just the way different ppl's
> > brains are wired. I work with words, I understand words,
> > but I have real problems with directions: if someone
> > says you take a left, then a right, then.... I lose
> > track and can't grasp it. If I see a map. no matter
> > how great the distance, I grasp the route instantly.
> > 
> > In speaking to others about it I find I'm not entirely
> > an oddball, but in a significant minority (say roughly
> > the proportion that vote lib-dem), but I remain
> > firmly convinced that most ppl will be happy with
> > the cli if introduced to it well :-)
> > 
> > In the 90s, secretaries at places I worked fiercely
> > resisted introduction of GUI OSs!
> > 
> 
> 


-- 
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Dr Malcolm Herbert
Director, EMEA Strategy & Solutions Office
t: +44 7720 079845
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