Art Alexion on 12 Jul 2010 09:20:24 -0700


[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [PLUG] GUI vs Console [Was: Vendor interested in giving a talk to PLUG]

  • From: Art Alexion <art.alexion@gmail.com>
  • To: "Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>
  • Subject: Re: [PLUG] GUI vs Console [Was: Vendor interested in giving a talk to PLUG]
  • Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:20:18 -0400
  • Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:received:received :in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type; bh=GBAya4tQ2XG2XNF9ZLFlxz6xe8MwMCJzwqeO/KO0oGA=; b=sKM1nrsqMFVRDORWG4wTpoBn54yGV+bjh6KbDPbGHz3MPUUMemLnyA0SvzPfK2U+/u 0JIE06Qy14OodJKT5JsITStl59WHclyrITdWbAAkm7sD0zb+lbuSewd6ecqHiOZkHBbe qE8aS8HXR+rjRxB90tLhgmwRw5txRpsDvuV+k=
  • Reply-to: Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>
  • Sender: plug-bounces@lists.phillylinux.org

My experience with free software is that GUIs are usually built on existing libraries. They rarely replace the console interface, just provide an alternate interface to the same libraries.

For example, I prefer command line apt, but synaptic is indispensable for some users.

--
Art Alexion

On Jul 12, 2010 11:07 AM, "Randall A Sindlinger" <rsindlin+plug@seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

This is a tangent on a month-old thread that I just read;  I've been very
swamped lately.

WARNING: This has the potential to start a flame war, but that's not my
intent.

On Thu, Jun 03, 2010 at 01:21:35PM -0400, Lee Marzke wrote:
> I've been a PHD business partner for a while now doing installation support
> for them.
>
> Most of the interface is still console/curses based,  but slowly migrating
> more and more to the web interface.
>
> My take:   This product has a very good core engine - and the GUI is slowly
> catching up to match.

Lee, you seem to be saying that having GUI capabilities are far more important
than Console access.  Moreover, "migrating" implies ditching the console in
favor of only a web interface.

Why is this "a good thing"?  I (personally) far prefer console tools to GUI-
and web-based products.  (And between the latter two, I far prefer GUI to
web interfaces).  Console tools are generally scriptable, and can be accessed
from a machine even in single-user mode.  A GUI or web interface seems to
require much more overhead, and require a primate to do clicky-clicky things,
IMO.  Perhaps I've just been poisoned doing Blackboard support a few years back.

Is it _really_ an improvement?

>
> Lee Marzke
>
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug