George, the Fake Linux Enthusiast
I asked George:
“Why is there so much emphasis on the command line? Why are Linux users raving about the power of command line?
Do you want more users or not?
If you don’t, continue raving about the command line and obscure commands and keep Linux out of the hands of the common people.
But if you do, abandon the command line as we abandoned MS-DOS in Windows. Make the GUI the preferred way to getting things done, not the optional method. Mention the GUI first and then mention the console command as a footnote.”
And George said:
“The command line is useful because you can give noobs commands to copy and paste that will fix their problems and they don’t need to understand it.”
I rest my case.
Category: Software
June 13th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Tch tch, slander and misrepresentation. Taken out of context it still makes sense though. In any case, for those who wish to know the context, here it is:
1. Marc’s hard drive went south, so he decided to use an Ubuntu LiveCD. He uses Badger (5.04), the current version is Fawn (7.04). The Long Term Support Release is Drake (6.06).
2. 5.04 had a bug in which the DNS settings would be blanked out for no reason.
3. To change your DNS settings you can go System » Administration » Networking and there edit the info under the tab DNS.
4. When asked to help I could either attempt to remember the interface and give those instructions (since I do not use a similar interface) or I could say something along the lines of:
echo stuffhere >> /etc/dhcp.confwhich will work anywhere.I chose the latter, since trying to fix that is a waste of time (the bug is now labelled ‘RESOLVED’, he’s using a version two generations out). Now, take the generic case of someone who cannot find the DNS tab in the Networking section. For such a person, the command line serves the purpose of Getting The Job Doneâ„¢ without any ‘learning’.
That, of course, isn’t the only use. If you are a power user and you want to do something fast there’s nothing like a command-line. People are unjustifiably scared of something well documented, and you’ll always keep finding out new things. It’s pretty neat.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:54 am
What I put in the blockquote was a direct quote from you.
And I already posted about the stupid DNS resetting bug ages ago. This isn’t about that.
You didn’t address my main points though. Who cares if it’s well documented or if it’s finding new stuff? Everyone must be comfortable with it.
June 14th, 2007 at 6:36 am
i recently met one of my friends : dylan whose girlfriend is my friend ..uhm cut to the point, i ended up in #dhq on freenode where this Romanian dude: “crazybyte” gives me a huge long lecture at the mention of just one word of Linux. i liked the enthusiasm but he goes maniacal extents to prove Slackware is the world’s messiah, when i said i will look into it as well as other distros, he’s like “do it, just don’t say it” OKay! back off bitch!, i understand the love but this is pure hardcore obsession, when i was just about to leave he said, “once you learn the command line you will begin to see the uselessness of the mouse…”
wew. i always wanted to make the transition to Linux, but the amount of real encouragement that am getting is crow poop compared to huge hoopla i see everywhere.
point is: George has not become *that* crazy, he is still human. just a little into details i guess.
June 14th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
It’s not just a little detail. The main problem with Linux these days is power users raving about the command line and new users wondering what the hell they’re talking about.
June 14th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
What the hell are they talking about?
June 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Don’t show off. I know you’re a Linux geek too.
June 14th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
The quote is not direct. It is also out of context. The context is helping people like you. Besides, you don’t _need_ to use the command line, so why be comfortable with it? That’s kind of silly. Don’t use it if you aren’t. Really man, some people can only drive automatics, they don’t go complaining that stick shift cars exist!
There are zealots in every camp, Sindhu. You don’t [i]need[/i] to learn the command line. But it does give orders of magnitude more speed at certain tasks than the mouse does (at some tasks, imagine doing graphic design at a console!). Besides, Slackware, umm, may not be the best idea for you. Just saying. Nor Gentoo.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
sindhu, ummmm.. what kind of encouragement are you looking for? you’ve got the CDs, you’ve got the internet. as a famous footwear brand would say.. just do it.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
She’s also got a 160 Gb hard disk with stuff thats on XP that she will eventually use.
I like how we’ve stopped discussing George.
June 14th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
you can keep xp and install linux, you know.
June 15th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I hate LINUX until someone is willing to pay me 1000 Rs just for an installation!
June 15th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Haha Chetan, better that way
Incidentally, I just discovered why that quote isn’t direct. I don’t say ‘noobs’.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Ragha, your opinion is worth nothing. You’ll hate things for no reason.
George, you were on the phone. So no chat logs. Lucky getaway for you. But Google will think differently from this post.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:58 am
correction: chetan, ive 180gb now
and suren dear i was talking about how zeolots scare teh shit of new users. that encouragement, its kind of hard to describe. imagine what i felt when i lost my entire hdd stuff to stupid ubantu? 160gb hmm? and this dude over the phone goes like ooo am so sorry ;/ *no, marc wasnt you, another guy*
anyway, i think am okay with linux now that i installed the grub on SATA …yahooo!
June 16th, 2007 at 5:00 am
uh this is out of place but marc you so need to get that subscribe to comments plugin …pleeeease *makes lolcat eyes at you* “-”
June 16th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I do have Recent Comments installed. I can’t get that plugin working correctly.
June 16th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
So that’s what that checkbox at the bottom is. I’m like, “Oooh! A checkbox without a label! Must select! Must select!”
June 16th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Oh, I thought only I couldn’t see the text. Must be some incompatibility with the theme and the plugin. I’ll check it out later.
June 16th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
i have a total of 240gb in 3 hard disks.
June 17th, 2007 at 12:18 am
And what occupies the most space?
June 17th, 2007 at 7:59 am
p0rn. munkeh p0rn
June 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I’m sure.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
munkeh p0rn indeed.
its la moosika. i have loads of it.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Or so you claim.
June 17th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Wonderful, so what else could it be?! Pictures of kittens?
June 17th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
That’s http://icanhascheezburger.com/
June 17th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Ragha has loads of that. He even says that Marc was so fascinated by them that he decided to fill his blog with pictures of lolcats.
June 17th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
He does? I’ll go get it from him then.