[mythtv-users] OT: A major difference between Widows and Linux

[John Pilkington]

On 12/05/16 09:51, Damian wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> If this isn't appropriate, then feel free to ignore the question and let
> the thread die. I'm only putting it here because you guys are the
> smartest computer users I know, so I'm interested in your opinion.
>
> A fundamental difference between Windows and Linux, it seems to me, is ...
> In Linux, if pretty much anything goes wrong, the user needs to enter
> some commands into the terminal in order to get to the bottom of the
> problem.
> In Windows, no matter what goes wrong, there is almost never a 'need' to
> go to the command line.
>
> If your job is administering networks with Windows or something, then
> you probably completely disagree with the above observation. My starting
> point is my own experience. My 'geek level' is significantly lower that
> some of the geniuses in this group. However, I was always the guy who
> friends and family called on to fix their machines if things whet wrong.
> So, I've seen a lot of Windows problems, and I never had to use the
> command line to fix them!
>
> Linux has changed MASSIVELY over the last 15 years. It's users no longer
> need to touch the terminal whichever things are working, and installing
> an OS is a breeze (oh how I remember the pain it used to be!). However,
> as soon as something goes wrong (and things always go wrong), the answer
> always starts with the terminal.
>
> This seems to be a huge barrier to casual users to me. And although the
> GUI's are great now, we still need the terminal for problem solving.
>
> Windows never needed the terminal for problem solving! I seem to
> remember that we had to 'load' Windows 3.1 from DOS, but ever since
> Windows 95, the problems (of which there have been many!!) have always
> had a solution that was still within a GUI.
>
> Is this because they are built significantly differently?
> Is it because us Linux geeks like being the gatekeepers to the causal
> users GUI, but don't want to let them have 'actual control'?
>
> I'm not looking for a flame war or anything. I just find this a
> genuinely interesting question.
>
> Cheers,
> Damian

I'm not a command-line natural, and use GUI tools when I can, but a 
well-crafted command line can often deliver a result when a GUI 
procedure might need several paragraphs - or a video - to describe;  and 
graphic DEs come in so many different flavours.

2 cents ?

John