Commentary on file managers vs terminal/command line

[Kim Briggs]

On Fri, Dec 23, 2016 at 7:55 AM, Ralf Mardorf <silver.bullet at zoho.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
[snip]
> The terminal is user friendly, even without remembering short-cuts.
[snip]
> from Oberhausen, Ruhrgebiet
>
How do I know this is silly?  Because in the same email, just a short
way down, you write this:
"Do yourself a favour, get used to command line..."

For people who don't already know the command line, it is not "user
friendly" by any stretch of the imagination (because they have to get
used to it first).  I have shown many new-comers how to use a file
browser.  Sometimes it is difficult, but there are analogies to menus
they have seen in other aspects of their lives.  Icons for different
things is now a common thing on touch screens at kiosks, etc.

Trying to teach a new-comer who doesn't know about computers how to
use the terminal is orders of magnitudes times harder.  Some terminals
have colors, but then you already need to know what the colors mean or
what file extensions mean.  If the icon has a musical note on it, on
the other hand, most people can easily tell it is an audio files.

Terminal for copying?  If you don't have a something that matches a
pattern, AND know how to use wild cards, there is no comparison for
the ability to Ctrl+Click your way through your choices.  And
thumbnails for photos?  There is nothing to compare with a terminal.
Lots of people have photos on their computers, so they would need to
learn the file manager anyway for that.

I can use a terminal and it is EXTREMELY useful for running scripts I
have written to batch-process my photos or modify permissions, users,
or other things on whole directory of files.  It is in no way easier
to use on a daily basis for sorting and managing numerous file types.
New users should not be led to believe this.

-- 
http://kimbriggs.com