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Linux Desktop: Command Line vs. User Interface

[ Thanks to James
Maguire
for this link. ]

“In the Linux desktop world, the graphical user
interface is here to stay. Old Unix hands may grumble, but the fact
remains that, without all the efforts poured into GNOME, KDE, Xfce
and others, Linux would not be as successful as it is today.

“The reason for the desktop’s success is obvious. A desktop
requires much less knowledge than a command line, and is suited to
maybe 80% of the most common tasks that an average user needs. If
the desktop needs much larger applications, that hardly seems a
problem on a modern computer.

“All the same, the command line continues to have distinct
advantages over the desktop. Although casual users often consider
the command line as prehistoric as a giant sloth, it continues to
give you more options and more tools that the desktop ever has or
is likely to.

“In fact, for many administrative tasks, the command line is
actually easier than the desktop. Looking through my BASH history,
I can see at least five circumstances in which I generally choose
the command line over the desktop:”


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