csant/log

Elsewhere I already have declared my love for the CLI - as I said back then, interaction via the command line is all about dialog. When interacting through a keyboard, your two choices are either to remember the exact binding for a specific action, or to start a dialog, telling your application the actions in plain English. Well, almost…

I have never really understood why CLI and GUI should be antonyms, why you should either enjoy graphics and be forced to point-click-drag-and-drop interaction, or dwell in the terminal, uttering your commands in lonely dialogs with the machine. It's really not that I don't like terminals - but for a few tasks graphical approaches are simply better. And browsing is one such task.

There is no reason not to have the power a command line offers, available also in GUIs. I am not currently aware of any major GUI application that spouses the two interfaces - the closest you get are some TUIs, Emacs or (I am told - no gamer myself) some games, such as Quake. Well - until a few days ago Rune came to my office…

tab 0 > go http://opera.com/
Loading http://opera.com/
tab 0 > newtab
Created tab number 1
tab 0 > showtab 1
Switched to tab number 1

Imagine your focus moving only between the document and one mini-buffer to issue commands with, or to get some feedback from the active page:

tab 1 > go javascript:alert('hi');
Window got an alert:
"hi"
tab 1 > answer ok
Dismissed alert
tab 1 >

I could go on forever telling you how much more sense it makes to have the login dynamics of a terminal in the case of HTTP authentication, to be able to query document information from a prompt and not to have either move my focus to a panel or to get intrusive dialogs, etc… This approach is just the most fabulous interaction - made possible by… our WebUI. Yessir, a UI for Opera, created using only standard Web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and DOM. Let me note one thing: the console UI is not the default WebUI the SDK is shipped with - it is just another possible UI, one of infinite possibilities open there to Web developers: unleash the powers, be creative!

tab 0 > version
Web UI console rev. 2080

(And a very personal thank you to Rune for dreaming up this UI)

N.B. The WebUI is a feature of the opera 9 SDK for devices.
P.S. The screenshot shows one of the possible console UIs, à la Quake - there is a binding to toggle the mini-buffer overlay on or off.

I run most applications in terminal, and Emacs is not an exception. But I had been struggling with Emacs 21.4.1 and had some trouble with some Unicode input - I'd have no trouble in X, but there are several reasons why I'd still prefer running it in terminal.

I just upgraded to the CVS version 22.0.50.1, and have solved all my troubles.

…cheat-sheet - I keep forgetting one or the other of the useful expansions and substitutions bash has to offer…

# expansions
!$                 # expands to the end of the last command
!*                 # expands to all arguments of last command
!!                 # expands to last command
!number            # expands to command number in `history`
!-number           # expands to command number commands ago
!abc               # expands to the last command starting with abc



# modifiers
:p                 # only prints output
:h                 # only head, removing trailing component(s)
:t                 # only tail, removing leading component(s)
:r                 # removes trailing suffix of the form .xxx
:e                 # removes all but trailing suffix
:number            # number of arguments of last command - therefore
!:number*          # is from number to end of arguments of last command… and
!*                 # is a shortcut for !:1*



# substitutions
:s/wrong/right/    # substitution of wrong with right in the command
:g                 # global (as a modifier to :s) - as in :gs/wrong/right/
&                  # repeats previous substitution ( :s/one/&.more/ )

^wrong^right       # replaces wrong with right in the previous command, and runs it

Additional note

^R incrementally searches your command history backwards - hit it again to get to the next occurrence. I badly miss the ability to search your buffer in xterm - rxvt-unicode offers this neat feature.

Interaction with the computer has mainly evolved around the WIMP approach, requiring a low learning curve and little effort from the user - with the basic misunderstanding that userfriendly does not necessarily mean only easy to use, but might also require some learning process. However, in our modern society nobody is willing to commit oneself to the learning process any more, people want their food pre-chewed and pre-digested; they have lost the capability and the will to engage in a dialog, to listen, to think, to react - that is all too much effort. Our society looks for the brain-dead entertainment that requires no interaction and the least intellectual effort.

I have the suspicion that there is a link between this and the decline of the CLI - interaction via the command line is all about dialog, commands are given, questions are asked, and responses are read: all based on the simple and familiar syntax <doSomething> <toThis>.

I do not want to say that the command line is the best, nor the only solution. But for several tasks it might well be a better UI than the graphical one, and in many ways a more efficient one - but we too easily discard this option a priori due to the fact that it is so far away from the well-known WIMP environment - that it requires you to sit up, read your screen, parse the string, and finally activate your brain and decide how to react - it is asking you for a dialog.

I like the command line.