Re: Anyone still use only use the Terminal?

On 2025-04-18, Farley Flud <fsquared@fsquared.linux> wrote:

On Fri, 18 Apr 2025 12:41:47 +0000, Borax Man wrote:
>

 
I meant to use a Text Mode interface, ie, no GUI at all.  What you get
when you press CTRL-ALT-F1. I assume that people are using terminals
quite often within the GUI, my interest was more wheher people just
forgo the GUI completely from time to time.
 

>
There really is no way to completely forgo the GUI, unless the computing
work is very narrowly constrained.
>
The computer is no longer used just to process bank transactions and
produce the daily reports thereof.  Today the computer is used to process
imagery, video, audio and many other tasks that a single terminal cannot
easily handle.
>
But the GUI is also far more comfortable in that it allows one to
visually spread things out.  Human beings are predominantly visual
creatures and a GUI thus is a far more natural environment.
>
However, I do object to the idea of a "Desktop Environment."  This
concept, IMO, takes the GUI too far into ridiculous territory.
>
For me, it is VTs on VDs with a WM (window manager only).
>

Agree, and I don't want to forgo it completely.  It's just that I
noticed benefits, for certain type of work, in sticking to a text mode
only interface, mostly for focus.  Yes, I know you can make a terminal
full screen in a GUI, but not having the options of distractions does
make a difference.

 
After 20+ years I only found out yesterday that Midnight Commander has
themes.  Still my file manager of choice when no GUI is available.
 

>
The better themes on MC require a 256 color depth that only Virtual
Terminals can handle.
>

They do look subtly better.

 
I find the more I've used Linux over the years, the more I've adapted my
workflow to a "terminal/command line" first approach.  That is, I'll
solve the problem using the terminal, and maybe at a GUI shim in top of
that.  I used GROFF to create financial reports for an organisation I
was treasurer for, "pass" to manage passwords, which is primarily
command line but with GUI front ends, other scripts here and there,
which I can tie in with a GUI front end.  This makes the system more
cohesive, because I can use the GUI for example, to retrieve a password,
but know when I've not got a GUI available, the underlying process is
still there.
>

>
That may work, but when one needs to examine the waveform of an audio
file or perform interactive math plotting only a GUI can deliver the
necessary performance.
>
In my experience, the use of VTs on VDs with a WM offers the best of
both worlds.
>

Some ISP's have options, where you can turn off the Internet at certain
times.  This is so people can have 'family time', say from 7-8PM or
something, where people cannot go on their "devices".  Now, you might
say, why not just not use them?  Can't you just choose to use them,
without having to actually turn off Internet access at the router?  But
by turning off at the router, you remove the temptation of distraction.

When I'm wanting to focus, I find that turning off other apps,
distractions (one way is to simply turn off the GUI), stops the
temptation and bad habit of "alt-tabbing" to other things.  There is
noting else to switch to, so I can read, or write in a focused way.
When I'm writing an article or a speech, this can help.