Can You Live without Terminal in GNU/Linux

[praka123]

With most modern distros priding that no usage of Command Line is needed,Do you think is it True?I have my personal experience with many new comers that at some point of time with GNU/Linux,they need to use Terminal.I dont find learning and using Terminal as rocket science.even shells like Bash with auto_completion there makes the life much easier.

What is your ideas friends?share your opinions and do vote for the poll.

[QwertyManiac]

No WAY!

But there are those who cant, or maybe dont, remember commands. And the scrolling text scares them out, having watched so many BSODs in thier early Windows days .. But with the amount of guides available these days, a simple cut and paste could always help recover things rather than reformat like they do for thier Windows.

[praka123]

I'd like to get an answer from who voted 2nd option.what will u ppl do when u get a problem with ur hardware ya software?for eg;say ur display went corrupt and ur xorg gui tool(wateveritis!) fails to get back proper resolution? OR
how do u install NVIDIA/ATi graphics drivers?with "run" dialog?
face it-with Linux reaching Desktop segment in 2007 too the CLI usage is very much needed.it helps.it even helps from not getting the bad habit= reinstall/format phase which many learnt from Windows OS's.

[mediator]

I don't think that, with modern distros and managers like synaptic, one needs commandline except when the GUI fails somehow which is rare. I heard about Ubuntu 7 too. The only thing I can think of is adding repositories etc, but that can be added by logging in as root GUI-cally and then editing via editors like gedit.

But yea, I use terminal more than GUI applications sometimes where it makes ur computing faster and much better. Like u got 1000 files containing php,html etc, u can simply open terminal from nautilus windows in that directory and type the remove command with paramater "*.html", instead of selecting the "show by type first" and then selecting them via mouse slowly.

Yea its no rocket science. Just like commercies have the notion that science is more tough and some even opting for commerce just becoz of the myth that science is taken by nerds and people with inferiority complex and shy to socialise, similarly some people just pretend that they r more cool that they just want hifi fancy stuff and no terminal. I guess that terminal-phobia is illogical and spreads in the mind of only those people who think computing is all about gaming,watching porn,music,staring at the beautiful GUI and doing nuthing.

Learning is never a waste. Kids and gals most often don't like to understand the mechanics of car and later cry and call for help when it gets stuck on a highway. Atleast they shud learn how to change the tyres. The same is case with Linux, if GUI fails somehow u can always correct it via commandline without restarting the PC.

The +point is that the network/internet gets established before the GUI even starts and u can surf the net even in such case.

[zyberboy]

In linux No
In Windows most of the time without cmd, except for some advanced stuff

When easy methods are there we shud adopt that,so that we have much more time to do other things,Even the programming field is going that way....
And also we cant argue that every one shud be comfortable with CLI,its like automobile eng student asking you to change the rpm or gear ratio according to your needs. People are good at different things,they may be using computer for fun as we enjoy a weekend drive.

[ray|raven]

There's no way we can live without the terminal.
I mean i compile most of my apps and afaik there's no GUI method to that.
Using the Terminal is faster and easier than the GUI.
Only folks who say OMG TERMINAL I CANT USE NEED GUI !!!
havent used one or barely knw how to use one.

And in most of the Linux vs Windows discussions i see ppl quoting the use of terminal as if its a disadvantage.Just shows their noob-ness IMO.

Regards...
ray

[vish786]

terminal is the heart of linux.... if theirs no terminal then their is no linux.

but windows can run without terminal

[praka123]

i saw somewhere in /. that "windows is just a GUI shell good for gaming"
also MS-DOS Command line is difficult(i used it verrry long ago) and most windows users supposes that the CLI in Linux also is hard as the DOS one.
bash shell made CLI easy!Only someone who is adamant will not be using shell/terminal.
I suppose most windows users are having the idea that shells are like ms-dos?
A good read will be:

Comparing command shells - BASH, OS X and Windows

Summary
The Unix based systems were always going to come out ahead for pure command line scripting ability.

[QwertyManiac]

CMD can be compared with Bash?

[vish786]

Originally Posted by praka123

that "windows is just a GUI shell "

[led_shankar]

Has anyone tried Windows' PowerShell yet? I'd like to see how that compares with BASH

[The Unknown]

Command line is not so necessary to be taught or learnt as we have 3 GUIs namely GNOME , KDE and XFCE. But Command Line makes work easier like zip, unzip, gzip, gunzip, installing/removing packages, gaining temporary root access to work, etc.

[azaad_shri75]

linux without terminal-no way

[praka123]

LOL GUI?those are DE and GUI is one X window System afaik
and what about zillion Window Managers available?

^%^%^ as for UNIX-like OS

[The Unknown]

Originally Posted by praka123

LOL GUI?those are DE and GUI is one X window System afaik
and what about zillion Window Managers available?

^%^%^ as for UNIX-like OS

Ya ya. That too.

[Sykora]

I'm a bit of a CLI extremist, but I think anyone above 'average joe linux user' should know how to use the terminal. If you want to get down to the guts and bolts of linux, you shouldn't be using the GUI.

[praka123]

I am not saying that all Linux newbies shud go learn CLI for a month and come back(I did myself 4 yrs ago!!! bcoz someone told that's the way ) install Linux enjoY!
What i meant to say was even for a Newbie use of few small commands and proficient in any one CLI editor(vi,nano,emacs etc) which can save a lot.
also will be the unix idea of user permissions etc.

[abhasbajpai]

without cli any OS is like a man without hands
and then *nix without cli is like a paralyzed man

[~Phenom~]

terminal is still required but its use is reduced as compared to earlier as modern distros support GUI for almost all applications.