I am a complete newb to linux, so please laugh at my question silently then proverbially (or if you want to drive over, literally) pat me on the head.

I always liked the idea of a purely terminal/command line based OS but when I launch applications it launches them in "pop-up" style windows.

Perhaps, I should design a GUI that functions like a terminal so I can launch straight from there without problem..

So my questions:

Feasible?

Already done?

How far off am I from having correct terminology?

Thanks for your time.

You may want to have a look at one of the tiling WMs, like DWM, Xmonad, WMII, Ratpoison, i3wm, ... .
I think they those are the closest to what you want.

Very cool! I am looking more into these options, they are all installable, say in Arch Linux?

There are a lot of Arch users dedicated to minimalist and tiling window managers. What you can't find in the official repository will be available from AUR. Some Arch users have even written their own window managers.

Look around in the monthly Arch screenshot threads on the Arch forum, there are tons of different configurations. The fact that Arch has no default GUI environment means that users have the freedom to do whatever they want.

They are, for the most part, available as source code, so even if they aren't in the arch package set, they are available to be downloaded and compiled. I have compiled ratpoison on slackware with minimal issue a ./configure && make && make install worked just fine last time I built it from source, your mileage may vary but it should be easy, or at worst a slight annoyance to get it installed and running.

Before you start using one, it will be in your best interest to look up the tiling WM you plan to use and learn what key commands you need to know to make it function, because for the most part your mouse will be decorative.

Worth looking at: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...indow_Managers to help you decide