LQ Poll: Do you prefer to work in a terminal or in a GUI desktop?

ruthm · 07-22-2022, 02:32 AM

i use a desktop gui for a lot of work, but equally use a terminal for many things - i'd say i have a slight preference for the terminal, but it really does depend what i'm doing. if there's a good gui environment for a piece of work then i'll use that, if not i'll use the terminal, which i feel gives me more control over what i'm doing. Often the gui won't quite do what i want, then i can dive in via a terminal to fix the niggle.

Jetstar88 · 02-01-2023, 02:37 PM

I'd much rather point and click than type, and I'm not a programmer, so for me, the terminal is just so 1983. Besides, I never can remember all those commands. That said, I had pretty well stopped using Linux for several years, until I got hold of a Chromebook and discovered its Crostini Linux environment. I got that set up and installed a few Linux apps, using the Terminal, necessary evil that it is, but once I got everything into place like I wanted it, I started pointing and clicking again, and didn't look back.

danden · 02-01-2023, 04:15 PM

I'm a daily mac user at the moment, mostly for the hardware but I do like macos. I keep an up-to-date ubuntu install on a second screen in parrallels also. I do really like the default shell and gnu kit in ubuntu and I try to pull most of that in on mac via brew. I still do most of my file management work on CLI, and can't live without awk and grep and so on.

andypal · 02-01-2023, 04:51 PM

what is Terminal ?

axsimulate · 02-01-2023, 05:07 PM

I started out using Linux with just the terminal as the GUI back around 95 wasn't that great. I preferred the Mac and Windows GUI. So I prefer the terminal today. Although some of the Linux GUIs are looking quite good these days, so I might be changing my mind after working with them for a while.

kakarotoanderson · 02-01-2023, 10:07 PM

I'm a hardcore terminal fan

ewilcox · 02-01-2023, 10:17 PM

I use the GUI to surf the web, read email, and many day-to-day activities, but when it comes to installing specific apps or system management, the terminal is more immediate and easier for me. I use a few services that must be built from source and the terminal is the only tool for doing that effectively (./configure; make clean; make; make install get it done most of the time).

trosdejos · 02-02-2023, 03:00 AM

I was born using Basic 1.0 and MS-DOS 5, so I am very comfortable with the terminal. Full control from Terminal.

ivanleo · 02-02-2023, 03:25 AM

My first ever OS was MS-DOS in the early 90s. Now, KDE Plasma all the way, with RPMs there's seldom any reason not to.

The single exception is installing the drivers for the WIFI card on my mum's computer, it doesn't come bundled with OpenSuse so I've had to compile it via DKMS. If there were a GUI to install the driver, I'd use it.

jyuhas · 02-02-2023, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy

The LQ poll series continues. For desktop Linux use, do you prefer working in a terminal or a GUI?

--jeremy

I prefer to patch from the CMD line.
Installing software sometimes I use the GUI other times I just do it from the CMD line.

linustalman · 02-02-2023, 10:22 AM

Both, more GUI though.

Hankbonk · 02-02-2023, 10:33 AM

I use the GUI for normal and already installed programs,
But The CLI is a very promising way to install new packages .

I'm also learning a course from netacad.com called "Linux Essentials" which
uses the CLI for most tasks and exercises throughout the course .
I am very excited that I can follow this course for free !

rcharney · 02-02-2023, 08:33 PM

I second https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...evbish-413268/. GUI for day-to-day operations and Terminal for problem-solving and repetitive tasks.

hazel · 02-03-2023, 03:25 AM

Definitely the cli for file management. I've never yet found a graphical file manager that I liked.

linustalman · 02-03-2023, 03:44 AM

I'd be lost without the use of aliases.