Well tried it and got rid of it

!bluetonic! said:
don't fear the command line. Start simple and embrace it. Learn a few commands in VI and you'll be laughing.
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Yeah, well it's not that I fear the command line... it's that I don't want to use it, to be quite honest!

Like a microwave, you wouldn't want to have to type "cycle p-full t-2m30s s-defrost", you'd want a button that says "Full Power", a set of buttons that allow you to type in "2 minutes 30 seconds" and a "Defrost" button. Yeah, they both take the same amount of effort, but there's no arguing about which one is more intuitive, and which one you 'just have to know'!

Even if it takes longer than typing the command in, it's better to have a GUI... CLI's just aren't okay for the average PC user - me included, but imagine my mum or my sister - even my CS:S playing girlfriend - none of them would even be using a PC if they had to type in command-line.. uhm.. commands. Unless it's for things like reformatting or even defragging, it needs a GUI or people won't like it.

I still think everything needs a GUI or the PC stops being that thing in the dining room that anyone can sit down and use.

I'm getting a 2nd hard drive in the next couple of weeks to install Ubuntu on, so I'll be seeing how things have gotten on since I last used Linux :D

Edit: Quick question - I have a Core2Duo, do I download Ubuntu for x86 or 64bit?
 
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furnace said:
Yeah, well it's not that I fear the command line... it's that I don't want to use it, to be quite honest!

Like a microwave, you wouldn't want to have to type "cycle p-full t-2m30s s-defrost", you'd want a button that says "Full Power", a set of buttons that allow you to type in "2 minutes 30 seconds" and a "Defrost" button. Yeah, they both take the same amount of effort, but there's no arguing about which one is more intuitive, and which one you 'just have to know'!

Even if it takes longer than typing the command in, it's better to have a GUI... CLI's just aren't okay for the average PC user - me included, but imagine my mum or my sister - even my CS:S playing girlfriend - none of them would even be using a PC if they had to type in command-line.. uhm.. commands. Unless it's for things like reformatting or even defragging, it needs a GUI or people won't like it.

I still think everything needs a GUI or the PC stops being that thing in the dining room that anyone can sit down and use.

I'm getting a 2nd hard drive in the next couple of weeks to install Ubuntu on, so I'll be seeing how things have gotten on since I last used Linux :D

Edit: Quick question - I have a Core2Duo, do I download Ubuntu for x86 or 64bit?
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Dunno, a CLI on a Microwave- you could issue a command to cook on 5 mins, wait 1 min to stand and then 3 mins on defrost to cook your tea without having to watch over the damn thing :D

I kinda see your point but you can still do 99% of the noddy stuff like web browsing, email, installing software without touching the command line in Linux. However the command line's there if you need to do interesting things or do things in a more elegant manner :)
e.g. my gf browses the ESPC website on my MBP which ends up cluttering my desktop with lots of pdf's with pseudo-random filenames in a numeric format starting with "24". However I have various proper pdf files on my desktop (mainly manuals, journal articles etc) so I cant just delete all pdf files from desktop. The novice GUI way would be sit there for 10 mins dragging each of those pdfs to trash, the more interesting CLI method involves "rm -f 24*.pdf"

GUIs are good though when you don't want to engage your brain and do things on autopilot and there are still things I wouldnt use a CLI for (burning CDs for example). Of course I realise that I'm probably not the typical PC end user being a sysadmin with a science/computing background!
 
Can't believe you couldn't get Ubuntu working, only last week I managed to install it on a 6.5 year old computer 1Ghz Athlon, 384mb RAM runs almost flawlessly.
 
Will_3rd said:
Can't believe you couldn't get Ubuntu working, only last week I managed to install it on a 6.5 year old computer 1Ghz Athlon, 384mb RAM runs almost flawlessly.
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Unfortunately due to the nature of open-source driver developers having to play "catch up" all the time older hardware is supported far better than bleeding-edge hardware. Also even the closed-source Linux drivers made available by companies like Creative, ATI and Nvidia are one or two iterations behind their Windows counterparts or simply don't offer the same level of functionality :(
 
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