arstechnica.com— Linux is hitting the consumer product big time but while doing so, it's hiding many of its most hobbyist friendly features.
Jan 8, 2009View in Crawl 4
Yes, it will.Why do you think the command line is used so often? Because UIs change, are customizable and there are tons of alternative ones to choose from for any given task it becomes problematic telling people how to use them to analyze/resolve problems. Command lines is how we work around that.If the command line is removed entirely, it not only renders tons of currently available documentation/knowledge useless but forces developers/documenters to waste time supporting tons of different UIs (which slows development process/release cycles/bug fixes) or average users to use only one or two most popular UIs for specific tasks (restricts their freedom). Besides this, if for some reason the entire GUI fails entirely, it is more likely to force reinstallation because a layer of redundancy is removed. Though it is unlikely to affect many casual users too bad/frequently in the short term, I still consider that "crippling".Linux's power comes from freedom (to choose, to know and to modify). Removing or hindering those freedoms in any way cripples the OS. Distributions are free to provide whatever GUIs they want, share info/scripts/programs and user's are free to change or modify them. This freedom is facilitated in large part from the fact that information can be easily ported between all distros/releases through the command line.
"Linux" is a CLI system. X windows environments such as Gnome and KDE are built on this very base system. Think of them as "Add ons"If you think Linux will not die if the command line is used less then you are really, really wrong.
The command line is not really consumer friendly. Probably why it was disabled. But kinda odd anyway.In my opinion, selling Linux on consumer computers is a waste of time.If you want Linux, you will probably know enough to be able to download and install your favorite Linux distro. If I buy a computer and the only option is Ubuntu, it probably would wipe it, and install something else because I don't want ubuntu.
"That should be the goal. But somehow there are still LOTS of developers who write source code, then call their product finished, leaving the burden of compiling, installation, and configuration on the end-user to do in the command line."They leave it to the distro. ;) ...which is the right way to do it.
Unless of course you want to learn the gui way of doing things is.. so you can remember to do it again months later. You have to get fairly ingrained into the CLI world before you're able to remember how certain commands work. Oh? you say people could just type "man command".... well G... that sounds so much easier than just running a GUI and using an interface that pretty much explains itself while you're using it... dumb asses.
This was probably done to reduce the tech support calls that HP gets from people who jack something up. It's the same reason that the BIOS setup in HP computers is laughably crippled.
The HP Mini itself comes with Windows 7 and "HP instant web" a version of Linux that is very fast. Beyond its limitations "no command line" and I think basically non upgradeable. Which means the usefulness meter is already ticking. its VERY fast! before I can turn my beast laptop on my wife has her mini up and has already downloaded the information we needed.
The command line is an essential feature for the linux os; and dare I say and essential feature on ANY modern OS (as OsX and Windows(insert version here) still provide a command line).
buddywJan 9, 2009
<Ctrl+ z>
enantiodromiaJan 9, 2009
a break down of who thinks this is a good idea:Noobs: 100%Noobs, who think they are Sysadmins: 0%Sysadmins: 100%
smotpokerJan 10, 2009
Yes, it will.Why do you think the command line is used so often? Because UIs change, are customizable and there are tons of alternative ones to choose from for any given task it becomes problematic telling people how to use them to analyze/resolve problems. Command lines is how we work around that.If the command line is removed entirely, it not only renders tons of currently available documentation/knowledge useless but forces developers/documenters to waste time supporting tons of different UIs (which slows development process/release cycles/bug fixes) or average users to use only one or two most popular UIs for specific tasks (restricts their freedom). Besides this, if for some reason the entire GUI fails entirely, it is more likely to force reinstallation because a layer of redundancy is removed. Though it is unlikely to affect many casual users too bad/frequently in the short term, I still consider that "crippling".Linux's power comes from freedom (to choose, to know and to modify). Removing or hindering those freedoms in any way cripples the OS. Distributions are free to provide whatever GUIs they want, share info/scripts/programs and user's are free to change or modify them. This freedom is facilitated in large part from the fact that information can be easily ported between all distros/releases through the command line.
bonez56Jan 10, 2009
"Linux" is a CLI system. X windows environments such as Gnome and KDE are built on this very base system. Think of them as "Add ons"If you think Linux will not die if the command line is used less then you are really, really wrong.
mrviklundJan 11, 2009
The command line is not really consumer friendly. Probably why it was disabled. But kinda odd anyway.In my opinion, selling Linux on consumer computers is a waste of time.If you want Linux, you will probably know enough to be able to download and install your favorite Linux distro. If I buy a computer and the only option is Ubuntu, it probably would wipe it, and install something else because I don't want ubuntu.
agentlameJan 11, 2009
"That should be the goal. But somehow there are still LOTS of developers who write source code, then call their product finished, leaving the burden of compiling, installation, and configuration on the end-user to do in the command line."They leave it to the distro. ;) ...which is the right way to do it.
gandhiiJan 12, 2009
Unless of course you want to learn the gui way of doing things is.. so you can remember to do it again months later. You have to get fairly ingrained into the CLI world before you're able to remember how certain commands work. Oh? you say people could just type "man command".... well G... that sounds so much easier than just running a GUI and using an interface that pretty much explains itself while you're using it... dumb asses.
gandhiiJan 12, 2009
you could always hack into the CLI by breaking out of the boot
stuntiliatorJan 13, 2009
This was probably done to reduce the tech support calls that HP gets from people who jack something up. It's the same reason that the BIOS setup in HP computers is laughably crippled.
shadywasabiJan 14, 2009
Nah, you just need to set the terminal background to something reassuring, like teddy bears hugging in a field full of daises.
bnasonNov 23, 2009
The HP Mini itself comes with Windows 7 and "HP instant web" a version of Linux that is very fast. Beyond its limitations "no command line" and I think basically non upgradeable. Which means the usefulness meter is already ticking. its VERY fast! before I can turn my beast laptop on my wife has her mini up and has already downloaded the information we needed.
withacupofcoffeDec 8, 2009
The command line is an essential feature for the linux os; and dare I say and essential feature on ANY modern OS (as OsX and Windows(insert version here) still provide a command line).