On 7/20/2010 4:33 PM, r j wrote: > I am taking a tech writing class. I am writing an argument paper > citing the benefits of using the command line VS the GUI. I > would appreciate any opinions you would like to share. I hope you aren't going to be too general in the comparison. Some tasks are very well suited to a CLI, while others are suited to a GUI. For example, if you wanted to convert a thousand PNG images to JPEG, a CLI program would work tremendously. On the other hand, if you wanted to do fancy image manipulation (beyond resizing/cropping/etc.), a GUI would be better since you could see your changes in real time. There are tons of examples I could give here. IMO, it's not about "better", but rather "more appropriate". > Do you think administration if faster using the command line ? "Administration" is far too general a topic to have an opinion here. > How long did it take you to learn the GUI ? The basics of a simple point-and-click interface takes a few minutes to learn. Beyond the basics, it really depends on how complex and well made the GUI is for a particular program. > How long did it take you to learn to use the command line ? The learning curve here is more learning programs rather than how the shell itself works. > What are the major benefits of the command line ? A CLI is appropriate for automation and basic tasks. > What are the major benefits of using the GUI ? A GUI is appropriate for complex and/or visual tasks or where it's helpful to have certain information displayed while performing a task (e.g. the tsMuxeR GUI). A well-written GUI frontend can also be helpful in learning the various options/switches of its CLI backend. > Do you think something was lost when the GUI came out ? Absolutely not. The GUI opened up a whole new world and made a lot of things a million times easier. I do think that too many people are too dependent on it and are missing out on the power of the command line and how it makes other things a million times easier though.