full circle magazine #65
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Written by Copil Yáňez
H
i, everyone! Welcome
back to Ask the New
Guy! If you’re new to
Ubuntu, thinking about
switching to Linux, or need
something explained to you like
you’re five, look no further. Send
your (simple) questions to me at
copil.yanez@gmail.com and I’ll do
my best to answer them.
Today I’m going to answer a
question a lot of new users,
including myself, ask upon
boarding the good ship Ubuntu:
Q: What the hell is a command
line?!
For many of us, the command
line is kinda daunting. Oh, who am I
kidding, it’s foreboding and scary.
I mean look at it, just sitting
there, staring at you with its one
good eye, blinking away. Waiting.
Even so, you can’t swing a
penguin around here without
hitting someone going on and on
about pipe this and chown that. If
the command line is so spooky,
why do so many seemingly sane
people use it? It’s as if the Linux
community is populated by cliche
horror movie characters, the kind
who hear knife-y type sounds in
the basement and go investigate in
their Pajama Pants instead of
calling the police.
I mean, what are command line
users getting out of the experience
(other than re-living their Matthew
Broderick War Games fantasies)?
After all, Ubuntu is so user-friendly.
Need to open a program? Just click
a few menus and you’re there.
Better yet , un d e r Un ity, just type
the program’s name and watch
icons appear as if by magic and
then click the one you want.
This user-friendliness gives rise
to the second most common
reaction to the command line
besides screaming Bloody Mary
and losing bowel control. New
users who are not scared of the
command line think it’s, well,
boooooring.
Try to explain to a reluctant
new user how cool the command
line is. It’s a little like trying to
explain Mutually Assured
Destruction to a modern teenager.
They can tell it means something
to you because your face is all red
and that vein on your forehead is
about to pop. But as soon as you
leave the room, they jump on
Twitter:
You want to shake them and say
“We were scared, son! Duck and
cover was a thing!” But, of course,
it all just seems so quaint to them.
Well, it turns out the command
line is not nearly as scary as some
think, nor is it the digital
equivalent of a Matlock rerun, of
interest only to the old timers.
It’s actually useful to new users
and even more so for those who
spend a little time getting
comfortable with it.
But let’s back up and start with
a definition. On second thought,
forget that. I just looked it up and
there was talk about CLIs, old
teleprinter machines, something
called TTY, shells, and then I
noticed the Google Doodle was
Star Trek and, well, I got
distracted.
Let’s just say the command line
is a place where you type