This goes a long way and in one way or another we have dealt with it before, but I bring it up now since Mark Shuttleworth asked him and being the benefactor of the main desktop distro, it shows that GNU / Linux is being developed in a big way. measured by people who don't know about usability.
Ok, the console is very nice and useful, but most people need to use graphical interfaces because their computer skills are limited, not everyone wants to learn how to use something that is unintuitive and they shouldn't have to.
On the other hand, GUI does not automatically mean easy or intuitive, even GUI (or graphical) applications require a proper design to be effectively easy to learn to use.
Something that Linux users should stop thinking about is that the new user has to learn the most complicated. One thing, the console is not difficult and I did not say that it is, but it will never be intuitive, no one can guess how to use a command line program by looking at the screen, a DVD authoring program (to give a GUI example) yes, and that is the insurmountable difference between a GUI and a command line program.
The above may seem abstract to you, a Linux user of no less than 2 years, but the impression that a console makes is a bit strong for a novice user who has never used Linux and not MSDOS.
What does it mean to know that I will have to use a command line for the first time?
It is simple. If you see a console for the first time and discover that in Linux it is mandatory to use it even once a month, this will come to your mind: MEMORIZE!
Nobody likes to memorize and, although Linux users know that it is not complicated at all, but this has led us to habit. I remember that when I was studying at the Institute we had to learn to use MSDOS for computer science class and I still remember that the only one who knew how to enter and use the commands (when I was not using Linux yet) was me, everyone else asked me how to do it. what was asked and nobody learned MSDOS definitively.
The second thing you think about when you see a command line for the first time is: BORING!
or not?
Thus, the use of this operating system at the desktop level cannot be encouraged.
Whenever I can, I try to get people to use the console, it is a very useful and practical tool, which also works the same in every distro!
Absolutely agree. Products must be tailored to users. For those who prefer command line for everything, they can pick a distro that suits them. I like the console, but a good GUI can simplify things a lot and can save a lot of time lost in learning that is not important for 99,9% of people. As I have always said, for many of us the OS is not the end, but only an instrument.
Just a few weeks ago I had to experience something similar with some friends. The problem arose when one of them said that Linux is not intuitive. So, I ask you, why do you say such a thing? Some of the criticisms were, that when they install programs they do not appear in the menu (something that I could not deny, since some applications are somewhat "vague"), but after that, the supposed conjectures decreased a lot.
Now I say, quoting from the text: «... most of the people need to use graphical interfaces because their computer skills are limited ...» The problem is the graphical interfaces or they really do not even know how to turn on the PC? Come on, when Windows was not an OS, you had to use MSDOS and nobody complained.
But well, times change, web 2.0, social networks, time = money, accessibility, etc. So, since GUIs save lives, anyone who installs some computer-aided drawing (CAD) program will be able to create plans without problems, if they totally have a GUI, LIE! Yes or yes, you need to learn and be continually adapting to change, (which Linux has adopted, since you see many programs with very nice and easy-to-use GUIs), but why shouldn't the one who sits behind Linux learn? ? Doesn't a doctor have to study? Or an Engineer should not be precise in his actions? It all goes in the people. The console IS NOT DIFFICULT, on the contrary, it gives more facilities than a program that runs everything blindly, if you open that program and don't start, what do you do? ... on the console, most of the time it tells you that it fails. Well, yes or yes, you need to know a minimum use of the console, but it is something that we developed at the time of using this OS. When I started (more or less in June 2007) I didn't even know it was sudo, less how to install something from the repositories and don't even mention compiling a source ... but the desire overcame those limitations.
That is why I am tired, already, of the questions that always lead against GNU / Linux. We have Ubuntu, a distro that is doing things relatively well, the use of the console has been reduced, you hardly see white letters on black backgrounds (the splash always fits well), they have Synaptic and other applications that save you time . The console always is and (I hope) always is. Linux is for people who want to challenge themselves and set goals, be in constant learning, people who do not stay on plateaus with beautiful flowers, if not people who face the forest, because they know that within it there are much more flowers. pretty.
I do not know if I could close my idea well, that perhaps I went too wild and carried away by my ego, most of the time. But as a final comment, in Linux you need to learn, if you don't want it ... find your!
See you :)
We do not necessarily have to be sysadmin to use the console and I go back to a help that I give to a user of a forum. He couldn't install the Ati drivers. The assistant came out in graphic mode, all very nice but it did not install. Apparent cause, it was not known, since there was no error message. My comment was, to do everything by console (previously indicating what to do) the result, the user happy to have graphic acceleration ... thanks to the console and said user was not the most experienced of all. The console is very necessary. It cannot be changed for a pure graphical mode, the mystique of Linux would be lost. Maybe a balance Console: GUI ... but I don't know to what extent.
See you :)
Sources, starting with "Ok, the console is very nice and useful ..." come three of the most sensible paragraphs that I have read in a long time on this argument.
I would add that the computer is not a simple tool at all, and that those who claim that it is easy to use lie like knaves to increase their sales.
What happens is that the home user does not have a system administrator next to him when something does not work, nor is he a great fan of reading manuals.
And one of the great "advertising" problems of GNU / Linux is the number of users who find the console really funny: we don't realize that we are not part of the norm and we don't understand that someone can be scared of a black screen, so docile she, so obedient and so helpful.
To all GUI advocates: I'd like to see you the day your beloved GUI doesn't get up to do what you used to do at the click of a mouse; or even worse: the day that your graphic environment does not lift. Do not forget that two of the most powerful operating systems on the planet (UNIX and Solaris) are not handled at the click of a mouse. It is time to destroy the engine that drives the growth of human stupidity: ignorance; this has been my little contribution to the cause.
I would like to see you change your TV without a remote control, making contact in the circuit of the device. Let's not be rigid, whoever wants to learn to learn, who only needs it for stability, to use it. Not all are computer scientists, but it seems that many have lowered a need to convert the world to the console. I don't maintain a server or anything like that. If the graphical server crashes I have the option to restart, simple (although it has never happened to me). What are you all doing in front of the PC? Getting hands on the core all day? Run elaborate console programs? I at least work with my Linux.
Due to your supposed solution to a graphical server failure, it shows that it has never happened to you and that you have come from using an inoperative system that I prefer not to mention; I admire you in itself: you work with Linux (which is a kernel) and not on the console. As for me, I work with several distros of the GNU / Linux operating system, in server and workstation environments (in physical and virtualized environments) ... and no, I don't have to get my hands on the kernel all day, nor do I run elaborate programs all day; I use GUI and WebGUI for some tasks (when I see it necessary), but I am not GUI-dependent.
That is precisely what I mean: your activity, profession or what you do. Obviously you have to handle the console thoroughly because your job requires it, but there is a confusion in thinking that all the "jobs" that are done with any distro is similar to that of the system administrator. My profession has nothing to do with computing, and I chose GNU / Linux because it gives me stability, security, and an almost limitless variety of software that improves my productivity. I think it is very necessary to divide the learning needs of an operating system between administrators (using this term very broadly) and users.
There is redundancy on the subject. Currently I cannot stand on either side, I use the console for the things that I need for the console, and I use the GUI's and Web-GUI's for the things that deserve it.
I agree that the console should not be removed for any reason, but I do not despise a good GUI that makes work visually easier, even the famous GUI application for "pinging" that was discussed a lot in another post (note: no is the only thing it does).
In short, the really important thing is that thank God, and despite much discussion, you always have the option of choosing the console or your GUI application.
PS: It would be interesting to see you try to make an ODF document, a free and widely accepted standard, on the console.
Of course, each interface for specific users and / or purposes. The GUI is very good for advanced and non-advanced users, to surf the internet, read mail, play music, etc.
Now, for configuration and administration, in most cases the console is much more powerful than the GUI. And about what they have commented that you have to memorize the commands, it is not true. You learn many commands from their use. And those who don't, turn to the Internet or to manual pages (when I was studying the degree I did not have all the information that is now on the Internet and I had to consult manual pages and books to do the practices).
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as a great wise man said… the graphic environment is fundamental…. to have more consoles ...
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I support the article, I am a computer student, I use Debian and I use Arch and Slackware from time to month. It's fine for me, I may one day live off the console, server manager, etc. But, an Archaeologist, Doctor, Graduate, does not have the need to learn enough commands or have total control of the pc if he is only interested in performing basic tasks.
Every person knows where the shoe squeezes. I am just getting to know GNU / LINUX migrating from Windows. Although I worked with two in the beginning and you had your command line, you do not necessarily have to learn all the commands if you are a user, therefore graphical environments have saved the lives of many of us so we do not demonize graphical environments u / o consoles better think that everything adds up.
for something Windows occupies 90% of the desktop pcs in the world and for something linux occupies 90% of servers, Windows is easier and Linux a little more robust and therefore needs less of a graphical interface that can generate conflicts in processes fundamental that does not depend on it ..
For my part I dedicate myself more to Windows and that my work demands it and I generate more money with this operating system, Linux occupies it from time to time as a recreation. In short, it is convenient for me to work more with windows because that is where I have more work due to the large number of users who use it.