Goodbye, GUI: Thirty Days of Command Line

[DeadSuperHero]

Dear fellow Ubuntu-ers,

I am preparing to embark on a quest: to learn past the GUI entirely, and appreciate Linux's inner workings.

Therefore, as of Midnight tonight, I will be using the COMMAND LINE ONLY for a solid month. Among the Free Software packages I will use:

-irrisi
-eLinks
-Finch
-Nano


I will emerge from my command-line haven on July 24th. I will also be documenting EVERY SINGLE DAY before I log out.

I just thought I'd share this unique adventure that I'm setting forth on with everyone.

EDIT: Am currently looking for a simple mail app to read and reply to my mail in gmail. Any ideas?

Update: To help myself out, I've put a bunch of the tutorials for these apps in my Documents, and I use a main text file that links to any other helpful text file. Should make this a lot easier to organize.

Update 2: Here's (http://seanrtilley.blogspot.com/2008/06/goodbye-gui-thirty-days-of-command-line.html) my blog entry on it.

[undertakingyou]

That's actually pretty cool man.

I would use VIM instead of emacs though. I look forward to reading your updates

[LaRoza]

Therefore, as of Midnight tonight, I will be using the COMMAND LINE ONLY for a solid month. Among the Free Software packages I will use:

-irrisi
-emacs (Wow, that's a lot of extensions)
-eLinks
-bitlbee
-twitter extension for irrisi


*twitch* Emacs *twitch* Use...Vim...

I also recommend Finch (for chat, same protocols are Pidgin), and screen.

[cardinals_fan]

My only problem with that would be web browsing. I need my Opera!

*twitch* Emacs *twitch* Use...Vim...
Speak not the name (of Em***, that is)!

[DeadSuperHero]

Thanks for the tip, LaRoza, I'll be using Finch...

[loell]

omg, you will not survive!! :KS

[LaRoza]

My only problem with that would be web browsing. I need my Opera!
Speak not the name (of Em***, that is)!

Same here. For a really minimalist GUI, I used ratpoison so I could use Opera on a setup. Ratpoison or wmii and I am happy. (You think you are cool with your xmonad? Try ratpoison for a real experience)


Thanks for the tip, LaRoza, I'll be using Finch...

It will use the same configurations and accounts Pidgin has, so if you have that setup, it will be very easy.

Also, you might want to use mplayer (without the gui) for music and such.

[klange]

My framebuffer couldn't handle me going without X for a month. You going to use X or get really down-and-dirty?

[smartboyathome]

One more besides Emacs and Vim is Nano. Its the easiest to use of the three.

[undertakingyou]

One more besides Emacs and Vim is Nano. Its the easiest to use of the three.

Funny that, I haven't ever gotten nano to successfully save a file. VIM is easy.

+1 for FINCH
+1 for screen (this one is a lifesaver)

[DeadSuperHero]

I just want to say, thanks everyone for your support. I will update the first post with what I'm using now.

[smartboyathome]

For your mail app, try nail (dunno if it is in the repos, not on Ubuntu right now). It looks like it may be what you want.

[undertakingyou]

mutt is another mail option. I haven't used either so I have no opinion on which one to use.

[undertakingyou]

It is for me, because I don't like having to remember the 50 million options that Vim provides, plus vim has a funky way of entering stuff and backspacing etc.

but the point is that vim has options.
Either way though, either one is a commandline text editor that our friend here could use.

[DeadSuperHero]

While I've got nothing against a healthy flamewar, may I humbly request that you guys keep it down to a dull roar? I don't mean to be rude, I just don't want this thread getting cluttered with an "Emacs vs. Vim vs. whatever" discussion

[LaRoza]

While I've got nothing against a healthy flamewar, may I humbly request that you guys keep it down to a dull roar? I don't mean to be rude, I just don't want this thread getting cluttered with an "Emacs vs. Vim vs. whatever" discussion

Sorry, I will prune.

[zmjjmz]

Ok, here are some links to tutorials that will help you.
http://mostlycli.blogspot.com (he has the irssi-IM-twitter tutorial)
http://kmandla.wordpress.com (he has tutorials on...
cplay - good music player
rtorrent - torrent client
elinks - web browser
oleo - spreadsheet
)
Also, I've found screen to be too hard for my liking, so I've settled with either twin (for which you may want to increase your framebuffer resolution, otherwise it gets quite cramped; in the repos) or dvtm (not in the repos, but really easy to compile from git)
irssi for IRC obviously
I could never get finch to work, so you could use naim for AIM and the irssi+bitlbee for other stuff.
Some other apps: bsdgames package has a bunch of fun terminal games, ceni (good luck finding it) is a terminal based wireless manager, htop is a better version of top, alsamixer is a nice ncurses based thingie for volume control.
By the way, you can get gmail to work nicely in elinks, and install gpm for mouse support.
http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/05/21/a-day-without-x/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=833627

EDIT: Use mc for file management.

[ciclo]

good luck, man

[ubuntu27]

Good luck.

I will subscribe to this thread :)

[DeadSuperHero]

Again, thank you everyone.

I have updated my first post with a link to my blog, so that you can keep track of my progress.

[cardinals_fan]

Same here. For a really minimalist GUI, I used ratpoison so I could use Opera on a setup. Ratpoison or wmii and I am happy. (You think you are cool with your xmonad? Try ratpoison for a real experience)
There's a fine line between minimalism and lack of features. I used EvilWM for a while, but it's not that much lighter than Xmonad and I appreciate the tiling.

[LaRoza]

There's a fine line between minimalism and lack of features. I used EvilWM for a while, but it's not that much lighter than Xmonad and I appreciate the tiling.

Ratpoison is best thought of as "screen for X". I used it on a CLI only setup, for the sole purpose of using Opera.

[cardinals_fan]

Ratpoison is best thought of as "screen for X". I used it on a CLI only setup, for the sole purpose of using Opera.
I like screen, so maybe I'll like ratpoison. I'm off to bed now, but I'll try it out in the morning.

[jrusso2]

I just want to say, thanks everyone for your support. I will update the first post with what I'm using now.

I was wondering how you plan on doing this since Ubuntu does not have a console non gui mode?

Are you going to boot up and kill x or are you going to uninstall the gui?

I recommend the w3 console web browser since it does java script and ssl.

Also a nice tool to have is MC, for both file management and quick edits.

I also would try to install Pine for email I think that does IMAP if you can figure out how to compile the support with ssl.

[LaRoza]

I was wondering how you plan on doing this since Ubuntu does not have a console non gui mode?

Are you going to boot up and kill x or are you going to uninstall the gui?

You can move (or disable) the startup script for X easily.

[DirtDawg]

Oh man, good luck. I tried this for a couple weeks. It was pretty fun.

Here's a great link (http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:m2FaURwHTxIJ:oreilly.com/pub/h/4441+mplayer+watch+movies+text&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a) that shows you how to play movies in text mode. Sorry for the 'cached' status, but the original page is out for some reason.

You'll have to do some (ie: plenty of) tweaking to find the ideal command. Also, you'd best use screens because until you do figure out the ideal command, it will likely screw up your terminal. BTW, aalib is known as aalib1 in the repos.

There's also cli mp3 players you might want to look into. I wish I could remember which ones I've had success with. I took a quick look in Synaptic and I can't find them now, but I know they're out there and they work well.

I'll be following this experiment of yours, it's fascinating. Have fun :KS

[andrew.46]

Hi,

Well I don't know about simple:


Am currently looking for a simple mail app to read and reply to my mail in gmail. Any ideas?

but I wrote a guide a while ago about using mutt and gmail (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=565326). I have used this setup myself for quite some time.

Andrew

[larry19l]

Hi Folks,
You know, back in the old days...:guitar:

Well, late 70's, early 80's when an apple was that low flat tan box with the built-in keyboard with 64 KAY of RAM and a 5.25 inch floppy that held 128 KAY BYTES, And CP/M 2.2 from Digital Research was an "industrial/commercial" OS that included both BDOS AND BIOS and ran in 7 KAY bytes of memory, data manipulation, number crunching and especially data entry was faster and easier ! That mouse that everyone loves is not as good as you think and certainly not as fast. Yes, I had an Apple II and it was 6 months before I could get delivery on my first 5.25" floppy drive. So for 6 months, data storage was an AUDIO TAPE RECORDER. Couple of years later there was WYSIWYG (remember?) And, Wordperfect 5.1 for MS-DOS. We've come a long way baby... (maybe...). And I still have a set of those rainbow stripe apple decals !!!

For your 30 days keep in mind 5 things:

1...Keyboard is faster than mouse.
2...The Tab key is KING ! Use it.
3...Function keys were made to be programmed !
4...The command line has one purpose: to run a program.
5...No program should have a name longer than 2 letters.

So REN and put EVERYTHING in your path!

Would you folks believe, I still have and use a copy of FOXbase for dos ?! For customized data entry into a flatfile database I will stack it up against anything and it runs in and uses about 100 KAY bytes, INCLUDING THE DATAFILES !!!

And I still have my old DOS utilities that include DC108 and L and I'll stack up WI (whereis) against windows search anytime on any system.

If you ever see either one of them you'll know why Bill Gates is NOT any kind of innovator. Just a thief. And a thief who won't even give credit where it's due: Windows explorer is nothing more than a mediocre version of a CP/M program called sweep21 !

I used to know an embedded systems programmer who said that it was MS windows that drove Intel to produce faster and more powerful cpu's: windows = bloatware. That's why Linux will outlast windows and keep older (less powerful) machines out of the landfill!

Ubuntu is part of the Green Revolution !
Now all we need is plug-in electric cars. It's to bad GM put themselves 20 years behind the curve. Now all the automotive jobs and profits will go to Toyota & Honda instead of GM's EV1.
And someone should tell that stupid moron McCain(Bush) that we don't need no stinkin' research. A company called A123 already makes the right batteries! Yes, you can buy them. Dewalt (commercial division of Black & Decker) makes 36 volt tools using A123 batteries. The hammer drill feels like and delivers the same power as a plug-in-the-wall and full charges in 2-4 hours! Soon as I'm living in a house again, gotta get me a set!

And we all need nuclear (Hey, G.W. it's NOT "nuculer", stupid) power plants in our backyards! The linear non-threshold model of radiation exposure IS FLAT OUT DEAD WRONG! Turns out, we live better and healthier with low levels of radiation exposure! The LNT model says 50,000 dead after Chernobyl. Reality: 57 died. Spread the word, don't run with the herd! A Nuc plant in every town and an electric car in every garage. Then let the Saudi's swim in and eat their oil and go back to living in tents and eating their dates ... :-)
---

Though, If I had the money, I would dearly love to buy a Tesla Motors car!:lolflag:

Have fun with your kbd... c-u-in-30!:popcorn:

Goodbye GC... I hope there really is an after...

[Ioky]

haha I have start a CLI thing few days ago, you might like to check out my post.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=833627

It might help, or might not. hhehe

and good luck

[andrew.46]

Hi,

Well I am not sure if I can top larry19l's post, mind you I only understood half of it :-). But I don't think anybody has mentioned slrn (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=475246) and leafnode 2 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=676837) which are great commandline programs and are the ultimate cool accessory when reading alt.os.linux.ubuntu. Mind you if you are in the USA at the moment I gather reading anything in the alt.* category has suddenly become a bit more difficult :-).

Andrew

[DeadSuperHero]

Well, it's officially Day One. I've successfully logged into the forums, and posted a reply. (Though, my goodness! It's much harder to navigate with just a keyboard!)
I'm still trying to figure out a good way to get Twitter working. Ah well, I'll figure it out soon enough. =]

[Lostincyberspace]

Have fun.

[Tigershell]

Nice one mate! :)

[Midwest-Linux]

Interesting

[DirtDawg]

Well, it's officially Day One. I've successfully logged into the forums, and posted a reply. (Though, my goodness! It's much harder to navigate with just a keyboard!)
I'm still trying to figure out a good way to get Twitter working. Ah well, I'll figure it out soon enough. =]

In Elinks, press the '.' (period key) to toggle number tags next to all links. Then you can enter a number to navigate links, which is lots easier than using the arrow keys.

[jgrabham]

Have fun, what Distro are you using?

[protogenesis]

Just wanted to toss my .02 in the hat. Good for you! Excellent move! I harken back to the days of System III UNIX when it was ALL command-line (and the 'screen' command wasn't even really around at first). Having a GUI makes life a lot easier, but until you have done it from command-line and lived to tell about it, you haven't experienced the real power. Anybody can point-and-click, but it takes real dedication to do it all via green text on a black screen.

I recently installed the latest and greatest Ubuntu desktop only to erase it all and install the latest and greatest server edition, which is, quite frankly, what I really needed. Since that past week has passed, I've fallen in love all over again with command line. It's the best way to run the Linux box, for me, that is. Granted, I still use my winders computer for gaming and all other functions as the Linux box is a server, pure and simple, but eliminating GUI has been a great step for me.

Personal notes aside, I really congratulate you on this and I am highly confident you shall not only succeed but you shall really grow to appreciate command line *and* GUI interfaces and come out all the better for it.

Send out a message if you need mental/emotional support!

[Delever]

Well, it's officially Day One.

:-D:--k:--?:shosk:#*-o:msgreen::--Gd:\\][..#ab:my)-:-pocorn:-l:/o--)l

[kiko72]

This is a great idea - I look forward to lots of hot, command line action!

...subscribed.

[Mazza558]

Wait, can you get CLI Web browsers?

[mikjp]

EDIT: Am currently looking for a simple mail app to read and reply to my mail in gmail. Any ideas?

mutt --> http://www.andrews-corner.org/mutt.html

or

alpine --> http://javatarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/configuring-alpine-with-gmail/

alpine uses pico as default editor, so it should be easy to use.

Greetings,

mikko

[mikjp]

Wait, can you get CLI Web browsers?

Of course, for example w3m, elinks, links and lynx.

Greetings,

mikko

[Delever]

Wait, can you get CLI Web browsers?

Yes, they are very good for testing how google bot would see contents (especially lynx).

[Dr Small]

Also, I've found screen to be too hard for my liking, so I've settled with either twin (for which you may want to increase your framebuffer resolution, otherwise it gets quite cramped; in the repos) or dvtm (not in the repos, but really easy to compile from git)


Screen too difficult? Come on man. Screen is awesome and easy to use! Once you learn how to use it, she will always be your friend :)

[PadreSol]

So how's it going so far?

[lswest]

checked it out, looks good. Left a comment on your blog entry too (same username). Good luck, hopefully it'll go better than my experience (a month of involuntary CLI usage, without any prior arrangement of applications, and this was pretty early on when I didn't know much :P but I came through - terribly unsupported (or so I thought) graphics card, turned out it was dying :P). Well, I can't wait to hear how it went!

Best of luck in your undertaking,
Lswest

P.S. I asked in my comment on your blog, and I'll ask here, mind if I add your blog to my blogroll at http://lswest-ubuntu.blogspot.com/?

[DeadSuperHero]

So how's it going so far?

So far, so good. I've taught myself how to use screen, and set up different instances of the same terminal for different things to do. ("Bash" for actual console input, "Web Browser" for eLinks, "IRC Chat" for irssi, "Messenger" for Finch, "Music" for CPlay, and "Text Editor" for Nano. I can update Twitter, use Myspace, update my blog, and read/reply to email through eLinks. Not bad for a first day.

[Canis familiaris]

So far, so good. I've taught myself how to use screen, and set up different instances of the same terminal for different things to do. ("Bash" for actual console input, "Web Browser" for eLinks, "IRC Chat" for irssi, "Messenger" for Finch, "Music" for CPlay, and "Text Editor" for Nano. I can update Twitter, use Myspace, update my blog, and read/reply to email through eLinks. Not bad for a first day.

Pretty impressive

[LookTJ]

Don't forget about screen! it's a great CLI application and is worth learning about.

edit: Nevermind:)

[Lostincyberspace]

how do you log on is it a gui or commandline based.

And does ncurses count as a gui to you it does to me. (which most of yours use)

[Barrucadu]

A GUI would be anything running under X, or any other windowing system. ncurses isn't a GUI, it's just half way between CLI and GUI.

[cardinals_fan]

how do you log on is it a gui or commandline based.

I log in with a command-line login manager anyway. It works great and doesn't waste memory.

[Lostincyberspace]

A GUI would be anything running under X, or any other windowing system. ncurses isn't a GUI, it's just half way between CLI and GUI.
Depends on you definition I guess? I consider it a GUI you don't oh well it really doesn't matter. But the true test is to without ncurses or any other gui type applications for a month. it would be really terrible to do and turn you off to the command line quite a bit.

[zmjjmz]

ncurses is more of a TUI, a text user interface, than a GUI, a graphical user interface.

[andrew.46]

Hi,

Not that one:


mutt --> http://www.andrews-corner.org/mutt.html

That is the scary version :-). The Ubuntu version is here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=565326

Andrew

[Joeb454]

Who added the "vim rules" tag to the thread?

I need to thank them :)

[Dr Small]

Who added the "vim rules" tag to the thread?

I need to thank them :)
I'll be the first to claim it :p

[LaRoza]

Who added the "vim rules" tag to the thread?

I need to thank them :)

I did. (Staff can see who made all tags)

[doorknob60]

Funny that, I haven't ever gotten nano to successfully save a file. VIM is easy.

Lol you don't know how many times I've screwed up important files with vim :lolflag: Never had any problems with nano, it is ftw!

Also, I recommend this: http://linuz.sns.it/~max/twin/ Twin, a text mode window manager :D It needs to be compiled, but besides build-essential (and maybe kernel headers, idk though), it has n dependencies and compiles super quickly. Good luck, I was considering trying that sometime, but then I couldn't play games :(

[zmjjmz]

twin is in the repos, no need to compile. It doesn't handle some apps well though.
Finch and cmus I've had problems with.

[Joeb454]

I did. (Staff can see who made all tags)

Hmm, I'll believe you, even if you do pick on me all the time :p

[LaRoza]

Hmm, I'll believe you, even if you do pick on me all the time :p

Note, there is a "nano > vim" tag, I will be removing it.

[dracule]

I can never get connected to my wifi on this computer. I could on my other one, just not my laptop.

[MONODA]

for email, use mutt. There is also cplay for your music (i love cplay, i use it in X as well!)
EDIT: also, check out LaTeX for typing up docutments if you ever need. For something simpler, just use HTML.

[toupeiro]

Good luck to you. I'd like to see how your list of CLI alternatives to day to day GUI applications grow! I work "as in my job" nearly 100% from CLI so I know this very likely do-able. Screen will become your best friend, and so will your .aliases file :P

Here's my .screenrc file for your use should you desire:



altscreen on

escape ``


hardstatus alwayslastline

hardstatus string '%{gk}[ %{G}%H %{g}][%= %{wk}%?%-Lw%?%{=b kR}(%{W}%n*%f %t%?(%u)%?%{=b kR})%{= kw}%?%+Lw%?%?%= %{g}][%{Y}%l%{g}]%{=b C}[ %m/%d %c ]%{W}'

shelltitle "$ |tcsh"



Here's the context of a very nice screen session managment script that I've found and played with a small bit. Also helpful, especially if you ssh and which to detach and reattach later. It's currently configured to launch screen if its not running



#!/bin/bash
# filters the screen -ls output to show the sesssions
sessions=`screen -ls | sed -ne 's/[[:space:]]//' -ne 's/\((Attached)\|(Detached)\)// p'`
res=`echo "$sessions" | wc -w`
if [[ "$res" == "0" ]]
then
echo " No existing SCREEN session to reattach to..."
exit
fi
echo ''
echo " CURRENT SESSIONS"
echo " ------------------------"
#screen -ls | sed -ne 's/[[:space:]]//' -ne 's/\((Attached)\|(Detached)\)// p' | cat -n
echo "$sessions" | cat -n
echo " ------------------------"
echo ''
#prompt for the session to join
echo -n " Reattach to session: "
read session
#attach to specified session
linenum=0
name=`screen -ls | sed -ne 's/[[:space:]]//' -ne 's/\((Attached)\|(Detached)\)// p' |
while read line
do
let "linenum += 1"
if [[ "$linenum" -eq "$session" ]]
then
echo $line
break
fi
done`
if [[ "$name" != "" ]]
then
screen -d -r "$name"
else
echo " Could not reattach to '$session'"
fi


oh, and try tcsh as a shell, you might like it! :)

[smartboyathome]

Just thought I'd pop in and say I am working on the Arch livecd now troubleshooting and am in a completely command line environment (irssi for irc, links for web browsing, that is all I need). It is actually pretty easy to do, not that hard, only thing I miss is the graphics, but it isn't that big a deal when it comes down to it. It is actually a very productive environment.

[DeadSuperHero]

Well, two days down, 28 to go! I still have some things to work out:
-Both emacs and VIM are confusing, but for different reasons.
-I need to find a way to make audio JUST come through my USB headset.
-What games are out there for CLI? I know of nethack and netris, as well as bsdgames.
-Is there a good Python IDE for CLI? Would Nano cut it?
But, I'll get it figured out. And, I promise there shall be a YouTube video up by tomorrow night! (provided that my younger brother edit and upload it for me)

[LaRoza]

Well, two days down, 28 to go! I still have some things to work out:
-Both emacs and VIM are confusing, but for different reasons.
-I need to find a way to make audio JUST come through my USB headset.



man asounconf




-Is there a good Python IDE for CLI? Would Nano cut it?

Vim.

[altariel]

nonono
emacs rules! :)

[Trail]

edit.exe

[Barrucadu]

-Is there a good Python IDE for CLI? Would Nano cut it?

Nano's good for simple things, but don't listen to LaRoza, Emacs is the only true way! :lolflag:
Anyway, in Emacs: "M-x python-mode" for syntax highlighting, you can also add a shell to run your programs in if you want: "C-x 2 C-x o M-x eshell". I'm not sure if python-mode is in a separate package in Ubuntu or not, try it.
You wouldn't think I only really started using Emacs a day or so ago...

[Dr Small]

Nano's good for simple things, but don't listen to LaRoza, Emacs is the only true way! :lolflag:
Anyway, in Emacs: "M-x python-mode" for syntax highlighting, you can also add a shell to run your programs in if you want: "C-x 2 C-x o M-x eshell". I'm not sure if python-mode is in a separate package in Ubuntu or not, try it.
You wouldn't think I only really started using Emacs a day or so ago...
Vim has syntax highlighting support out of the box too :D

[Barrucadu]

I never said it didn't :p

[chucky chuckaluck]

after going on my own 30 days without toilet paper, i've come to appreciate gui programs. maybe i'm just going on another bloat binge.

[doorknob60]

Okay, the nano vs emacs vs vim war is starting to get really annoying :lolflag: Nano's still the best though :D

[ad_267]

Okay, the nano vs emacs vs vim war is starting to get really annoying :lolflag: Nano's still the best though :D

That part of this thread has been moved to here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=839955. Vim is the best.

Hope the cli only is still going well! If you're lost in vim try running vimtutor.

[cardinals_fan]

Well, two days down, 28 to go! I still have some things to work out:
-Both emacs and VIM are confusing, but for different reasons.
-I need to find a way to make audio JUST come through my USB headset.
-What games are out there for CLI? I know of nethack and netris, as well as bsdgames.
-Is there a good Python IDE for CLI? Would Nano cut it?
But, I'll get it figured out. And, I promise there shall be a YouTube video up by tomorrow night! (provided that my younger brother edit and upload it for me)
- Run "vimtutor". You'll learn a lot in ten minutes.
- ?
- GnuGo is a good CLI Go game.
- Vim will do nicely.

[mhenry35]

Hi Folks,
You know, back in the old days...:guitar:

Well, late 70's, early 80's when an apple was that low flat tan box with the built-in keyboard with 64 KAY of RAM and a 5.25 inch floppy that held 128 KAY BYTES, And CP/M 2.2 from Digital Research was an "industrial/commercial" OS that included both BDOS AND BIOS and ran in 7 KAY bytes of memory, data manipulation, number crunching and especially data entry was faster and easier ! That mouse that everyone loves is not as good as you think and certainly not as fast. Yes, I had an Apple II and it was 6 months before I could get delivery on my first 5.25" floppy drive. So for 6 months, data storage was an AUDIO TAPE RECORDER. Couple of years later there was WYSIWYG (remember?) And, Wordperfect 5.1 for MS-DOS. We've come a long way baby... (maybe...). And I still have a set of those rainbow stripe apple decals !!!

For your 30 days keep in mind 5 things:

1...Keyboard is faster than mouse.
2...The Tab key is KING ! Use it.
3...Function keys were made to be programmed !
4...The command line has one purpose: to run a program.
5...No program should have a name longer than 2 letters.

So REN and put EVERYTHING in your path!

Would you folks believe, I still have and use a copy of FOXbase for dos ?! For customized data entry into a flatfile database I will stack it up against anything and it runs in and uses about 100 KAY bytes, INCLUDING THE DATAFILES !!!

And I still have my old DOS utilities that include DC108 and L and I'll stack up WI (whereis) against windows search anytime on any system.

If you ever see either one of them you'll know why Bill Gates is NOT any kind of innovator. Just a thief. And a thief who won't even give credit where it's due: Windows explorer is nothing more than a mediocre version of a CP/M program called sweep21 !

I used to know an embedded systems programmer who said that it was MS windows that drove Intel to produce faster and more powerful cpu's: windows = bloatware. That's why Linux will outlast windows and keep older (less powerful) machines out of the landfill!

Ubuntu is part of the Green Revolution !
Now all we need is plug-in electric cars. It's to bad GM put themselves 20 years behind the curve. Now all the automotive jobs and profits will go to Toyota & Honda instead of GM's EV1.
And someone should tell that stupid moron McCain(Bush) that we don't need no stinkin' research. A company called A123 already makes the right batteries! Yes, you can buy them. Dewalt (commercial division of Black & Decker) makes 36 volt tools using A123 batteries. The hammer drill feels like and delivers the same power as a plug-in-the-wall and full charges in 2-4 hours! Soon as I'm living in a house again, gotta get me a set!

And we all need nuclear (Hey, G.W. it's NOT "nuculer", stupid) power plants in our backyards! The linear non-threshold model of radiation exposure IS FLAT OUT DEAD WRONG! Turns out, we live better and healthier with low levels of radiation exposure! The LNT model says 50,000 dead after Chernobyl. Reality: 57 died. Spread the word, don't run with the herd! A Nuc plant in every town and an electric car in every garage. Then let the Saudi's swim in and eat their oil and go back to living in tents and eating their dates ... :-)
---

Though, If I had the money, I would dearly love to buy a Tesla Motors car!:lolflag:

Have fun with your kbd... c-u-in-30!:popcorn:

Goodbye GC... I hope there really is an after...

Hey I love this whole concept. This is a guy who didn't grow up with the command line, but is taking a trip back in time to learn it. You gotta have major respect for that.

I learned MS-DOS 2.0 by trial and error, and by a lot of typing command names with a question behind them to get the syntax. By the time I had a real DOS manual, I found I didn't need it because I already knew the commands!

I had become a lan/wan tech at my job, and had resisted the move to windows as long as I could get away with it. The text based apps took less memory and disc space, and were a lot faster. Eventually, you had to move to windows because new software was being developed there, and if you needed, you had to go. That's how bill got us all hooked on the gooey. You know, with any dealer, the first one is always free, after that, you gotta pay. We're still paying.

Anyway, This is an awesome experiment, and I'll be reading the blog and following the journey of this courageous young soul!

Matt

[luisito]

Oh, come on!!! I've done it for more than a year!!! (in the 90's)

[sicofante]

I done it for more than 10 years on SGI IRIX machines (no one paid attention to the Indigo desktop back then). I'd never go back. Good luck with the experience, though.

[DeadSuperHero]

I am officially on Day Four with nothing but CLI.
My brother was nice enough to help me make a YouTube video update, it's on the latest blog entry.
Thanks for all the encouraging words of support and advice!

[ladr0n]

Bombardier is an awesome CLI game. It's original version was on the Amiga, I believe.
Also... I wonder if there is a way to upload youtube videos from the command line. Surely a python script could handle that.

[LaRoza]

Look at all the tags! I am sick of pruning away all the bad ones and replacing them...

[zmjjmz]

This can help you.
http://cli-apps.org

[Chr0mis]

Wow, this is pretty awesome. I want to do a month without GUI too... After my exams.

[fatality_uk]

Look at all the tags! I am sick of pruning away all the bad ones and replacing them...

Hmmm, agreed


church of emacs, free software, gedit is where it's at, nano pwns, thirty days, vim is the best... etc etc

[kevdog]

tags??

Saw your day #4 video -- looks great to me so far... Keep it up!

[klange]

tags??


church of emacs, command line only, emacs > vim, free software, gedit is where it's at, nano > emacs, nano > vim, nano pwns, thirty days, vim > emacs > nano, vim > nano, vim is the best, vim rules

Tags. Lots of them.

Good job and good luck to the OP.

[smartboyathome]

LaRoza, would you please remove all of the irrelivant tags (church of emacs, emacs > vim, gedit is where it's at, nano > emacs, nano > vim, nano pwns, vim > emacs > nano, vim > nano, vim is the best, vim rules), from the thread? That would remove the ugly blue line of text on the board.

[quanumphaze]

This is very interesting. I should learn a few things here for if I loose my precious X.
One being how to change the text mode resolution from the default 80x24. How? :confused:

Less about me. How are you holding up one week in?

[fatality_uk]

How is this going? No update?
Has someone run

startx :lol:
Just kidding. I couldn't be productive using only the CLI. Interesting to know what real, every day situations can be accomplished using the CLI?

[mikjp]

Interesting to know what real, every day situations can be accomplished using the CLI?

If you accept programs with ncurses interface running in text mode (no X windowing) as CLI applications, you can for example:

* write a letter, an article or a book using Emacs or some other editor
* edit web pages
* surf on the internet
* read, write and send email
* learn to program
* listen to mp3 and ogg files
* typeset books with LaTeX
* do calculations
* use databases

Welcome to the command line of the third millenium!!

Greetings,

mikko

[DeadSuperHero]

In all honesty, I really kind of miss the GUI. There's something about being able to see images while surfing the web, and playing visual games that I just really miss right now.

However, I have NOT gone into X at all.

[elmer_42]

Treat yourself to an ASCII movie. Here (http://liquidweather.net/howto/index.php?id=74), this tells you how.

[chucky chuckaluck]

In all honesty, I really kind of miss the GUI. There's something about being able to see images while surfing the web, and playing visual games that I just really miss right now.

However, I have NOT gone into X at all.

after using elinks in the console for a while, i really found it difficult to follow the layout. even after increasing the characters per line from 80 to 125, it was still hard to look at. as you go through this process, i imagine you will come to realize that, while the cli is better for many things, there are some advantages to using a gui, in some cases. in x, you can still use cli for everything, if you wish, but you still have all the other options open to you. using the console limits you to text only (i've never managed to get the framebauffer stuff going, so i could be wrong), which is really just eliminating your own options.

[Barrucadu]

I'm sure I read a guide somewhere on how to play movies in the framebuffer with mplayer. Would that count as cheating though?

[timzak]

In all honesty, I really kind of miss the GUI. There's something about being able to see images while surfing the web, and playing visual games that I just really miss right now.

However, I have NOT gone into X at all.

I watched one of your movies. I am VERY impressed with you! I am (unfortunately) completely GUIified after starting with an Apple IIe as a 13 year old.

I was going to make a comment about wondering if photos on web pages were displayed in ASCII, but elmer_42 outdid that with his link!

Imagine for a moment that this was the ONLY way to compute, and that you couldn't even dream of GUI computing as it is today. That's how it was for many of us in our 30s and older back in the 1980's.

Good job, man.

[cardinals_fan]

Nsudoku is a fun ncurses sudoku game.

[original_jamingrit]

I haven't read the entire thread. Has anyone suggested trying out a rogue-like rpg like ADOM (http://http://www.adom.de/) or Nethack (http://www.nethack.org/)? They were the only reason I used the command line in my windows days.

[Muhammad]

In all honesty, I really kind of miss the GUI. There's something about being able to see images while surfing the web, and playing visual games that I just really miss right now.

However, I have NOT gone into X at all.

You're brave man, I wouldn't have lasted a sec in that black box of hell without suffering from merciless headaches.

[Dr Small]

You're brave man, I wouldn't have lasted a sec in that black box of hell without suffering from merciless headaches.
It really isn't that difficult. I find it a rather pleasant experience.

[red_Marvin]

I like this challenge, it's nice to put things in perspective. For a while I did cli only, during an arch install and returning to x from some days with screen, nano, w3m and irssi actually felt strange and as if it were not a change in the totally right direction.
This is probably the first thread I subscribed to before posting in it.

Good luck, I trust you have set your framebuffer to match your screen?

[cardinals_fan]

Good luck, I trust you have set your framebuffer to match your screen?
If he's lasted a week, I assume so :)

[DeadSuperHero]

Sorry for any delay. I've been busy at work (as a burger flipper), so I haven't had as much time to use my computer as much as I'd like. Nevertheless, I haven't switched to anything else. So yay!

Expect a new blog post within the hour.

[Muhammad]

It really isn't that difficult. I find it a rather pleasant experience.

Sex is a pleasant experience, Black Screen of Hell is... Well I guess it is a matter of taste. Yep that is it.

[whitefort]

Mr Psychopath - what a totally amazing idea!!

I'm inspired by your example, and I am SO going to do this. I'll take the rest of this week to suss out what apps I'm going to need (like, what would I use to post to this forum and scream for help), and from next Monday, I'm going to try for 30 non-GUI days too.


Now I'm scared... :)

[mikjp]

I'll take the rest of this week to suss out what apps I'm going to need (like, what would I use to post to this forum and scream for help), and from next Monday, - - -

You can start right now, and install the apps later. Just remember that
sudo apt-get install is used to install an application. Elinks, lynx, w3m, and links are text mode web browsers you can use for posting to this forum.

Greetings,

mikko

[mikjp]

In all honesty, I really kind of miss the GUI. There's something about being able to see images while surfing the web, and playing visual games that I just really miss right now.

So you'll get a productivity boost as you dont spend time playing games on the Internet :)

You should read Woodnotes Guide to Emacs for Writers (http://therandymon.com/content/view/16/79/) if you are serious about productivity without X. Another good article is the same authors What's Old is New Again: the Quest for Distraction-Free Writing (http://therandymon.com/content/view/99/98/).

Greetings,

mikko

[Solicitous]

I think it is a good challenge. For majority of 2006 my primary machine was a p233mmx laptop (I was traveling around a bit) with 128mb ram running Gentoo as a purely commandline system (with the exception of running ratpoison when I needed Opera to do my Internet banking).
I found during the time that I could perform my daily tasks on it quicker than I can even now (running a core duo toshiba laptop).
Two points I suggest to people who are wanting to try a pure cmdline system;
1) Setup framebuffer - no good having all that screen realestate and you run it at 640x480.
2) Use screen. Split your screen up and make performing multiple tasks a lot easier and quicker.
Just my 2 cents.

[DeadSuperHero]

Hey, everyone. Sorry about my lack of replies, I've been extremely busy with work and a social life. I am now on Day 12, and have done a major double post on my blog.
Also, I would like it if people could regularly comment more. I know a lot of people read it, but I really love feedback from everybody.
Cheers!

[whitefort]

Glad to hear you're still at it, Mr Psychopath!

I was utterly determined to follow your example - I survived for less than half an hour!!

I really want to do this sometime, but I definitely need to do a lot more reading and research first.

Congrats for sticking with it!

[mikjp]

Twin might be an easy to use alternative for screen and worth trying:

Twin is a text-mode window environment. It turns a text terminal into a X11-style display with window manager, terminal windows, and can also serve as display for remote applications. Each terminal window provides the functions of a text-mode Linux console.

(http://freshmeat.net/projects/twin/)

I havent tried it in years, but I might install it again on some of my older boxes just to have a screen shot for my blog :-)

Greetings,

mikko

[PadreSol]

So whatdya miss about the gui?

[init1]

Funny that, I haven't ever gotten nano to successfully save a file. VIM is easy.

+1 for FINCH
+1 for screen (this one is a lifesaver)
So you're saying that doing a :q is easier than CTRL-O?

[zmjjmz]

Not sure how you couldn't get nano to save a file.

And really people, just use
echo "text stuff here lols">textfile
Along with sed and less for all your text editing needs

[dracule]

when i first used vim i was like wtf...

because i looked up how to save and quit and it just gave me

:q

and i was like ok.. now where do i put that in? and i tried for like an hour and finally got it :p

[RiceMonster]

Yeah, vim is confusing at first, but once you get it, it's superior. It took me a while to fully adapt. I kept switching between that and graphical editors like gedit because I would get tired of looking up how to do stuff I in vim that I knew how to do in graphical text editor. Now I'm pretty comfortable with it.

[LaRoza]

So you're saying that doing a :q is easier than CTRL-O?

That was over 100 posts ago...

[dot2kode]

recently I just starting getting into cli myself....here's my 2 cents...why does it gota be cli/text base or gui? Main reason i love *nix is the fact you have a powerful GUI and of course the very powerful cli. Some things I love doing in bash and some things I love GUI for... :)

p.s. Not directed towards you and your journey into text. The way I became a full on linux user was getting rid of xp completely and not dual booting. I was always getting stuck on something and then booting into xp. After I rm -rf /windows the true journey began. http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj285/3d0k/snoozer_likelinux_man.gif
Much respect for your journey in this very very powerful world called bash/cli/text whatever else you wanna call it. :wink:

[cardinals_fan]

You inspired me. I'm spending some time with GNOME & Compiz as opposed to my usual Xmonad. :)

[Dr Small]

So you're saying that doing a :q is easier than CTRL-O?
Definitely.

[LaRoza]

You inspired me. I'm spending some time with GNOME & Compiz as opposed to my usual Xmonad. :)

Don't. It is a pain.

[cardinals_fan]

Don't. It is a pain.
Actually, I only have two complaints:

* Speed. Xmonad is simply light years ahead of GNOME/Compiz in this department.

* I need dmenu! Sure, I could probably map it to Alt-P just like in Xmonad, but I'm going mad sorting through menus instead of just launching my apps normally.

[LaRoza]

Actually, I only have two complaints:

* Speed. Xmonad is simply light years ahead of GNOME/Compiz in this department.

* I need dmenu! Sure, I could probably map it to Alt-P just like in Xmonad, but I'm going mad sorting through menus instead of just launching my apps normally.

I find opening apps to be a pain like you, but I find I usually end up having the same apps open anyway. It is the moving between windows and "workspaces" that wastes time.

[cardinals_fan]

I find opening apps to be a pain like you, but I find I usually end up having the same apps open anyway. It is the moving between windows and "workspaces" that wastes time.
This is one area where Compiz works well - I mapped my favorite old Alt+*Workspace #* key combo to the change workspace thingy in Compiz, so workspace changing is painless. If I could enhance the speed, I might stick with this over tiling, but right now I plan to install dwm as soon as possible. I never have more than one window open on a given workspace at any given time, so that's not an issue.

[jnw222]

i couldn't live i love gui tooo much (espically bieng a former windows addict

[DeadSuperHero]

Sorry about the lack of updates. I'm currently on Day 21. I've been crazy busy with work and dating, so that explains the lack of posts.
Anyways, there's a few new blog posts.

[chucky chuckaluck]

Sorry about the lack of updates. I'm currently on Day 21. I've been crazy busy with work and dating, so that explains the lack of posts.
Anyways, there's a few new blog posts.

you've used nothing but the command line and you're dating? that's thread worthy. (it's a mammal, right?)

[DeadSuperHero]

Hi, everybody.

Today is the day. I have officially been CLI-only for a full 30 days. I may have skipped a few days of blogging due to work and a social life, but I have kept the days pretty well documented.

Feel free to check it out.

Digg (http://digg.com/linux_unix/Command_Line_Boy_Finishes_30_Day_Challenge)

FS Daily (http://www.fsdaily.com/Community/Command_Line_Boy_Finishes_30_Day_Challenge)

Also, I plan on putting a T-Shirt up on my Cafepress account for anyone else who wants to take the challenge! Wait for a future blog entry for details on that!

-Sean (Mr. Psychopath)

[imronak]

Hi, everybody.

Today is the day. I have officially been CLI-only for a full 30 days. I may have skipped a few days of blogging due to work and a social life, but I have kept the days pretty well documented.

Feel free to check it out.

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Command_Line_Boy_Finishes_30_Day_Challenge



Also, I plan on putting a T-Shirt up on my Cafepress account for anyone else who wants to take the challenge! Wait for a future blog entry for details on that!

-Sean (Mr. Psychopath)


Congrats :) and welcome to gui :D

[dizee]

Hi, everybody.

Today is the day. I have officially been CLI-only for a full 30 days. I may have skipped a few days of blogging due to work and a social life, but I have kept the days pretty well documented.

Feel free to check it out.

Digg (http://digg.com/linux_unix/Command_Line_Boy_Finishes_30_Day_Challenge)

FS Daily (http://www.fsdaily.com/Community/Command_Line_Boy_Finishes_30_Day_Challenge)

Also, I plan on putting a T-Shirt up on my Cafepress account for anyone else who wants to take the challenge! Wait for a future blog entry for details on that!

-Sean (Mr. Psychopath)
that is really some achievement. i'm not sure i'd last one day let alone a month.

so, you going to come back to the dark side? gnome will probably look like vegas if/when you go back to it :p