- This topic has 16 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Jun 29-3:46 am by PDP-8.
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seaken64
Of course you COULD do your banking by CLI, if only the world would let you! There is nothing magical about the GUI screen as far as pure data manipulation goes. I was more productive with QuatroPro than I have been with Excel. And I could place data in a database file without a form.
People are different. And as you say it’s not about their intelligence. My FIL use a spreadsheet in just the manner you mentioned. Doesn’t grasp the “commands” that make the spreadsheet a calculator. Yet he could set up an R:Base database on his IBM PC and save it to a floppy file and then retrieve the data using an SQL-like language of terms. My Dad would always try to format a document in the WordStar program instead of waiting to format the text in the DTP program.
The GUI has made it easier for everyone to actually USE the computer to get results. My FIL would be lost using PINE for e-mail. But he gets it using Thunderbird. Has no clue about G-mail. Thinks the email is on his computer on his desk and that he has to be sitting in front of it. I tell him just check his email on his phone using G-mail. Nope. Gotta be in front of the computer in Thunderbird.
I’ve never seen an interface that works for everyone. But you are right. You don’t need an interface with menus, and have to learn the placement of everything every time the version of the menu changes. But somehow you have to understand the basics of where files are kept and how they interact. Without some idea of how a computer files away the data you sit there looking at a blinking cursor.
I think going to university and spending time in the computer lab on a mainframe or mini helps a lot. It sure would have helped me. I came late to the game (Commodore PET, C64, CP/M, DOS). But I am comfortable with commands. I figured out how to input into sc in a few minutes. And save the file. Etc. But someone else might prefer an interface where they speak or click on pictures because that’s where they came in.
To this day I don’t use pivot tables. A text based spreadsheet is all I need for what I do with a spreadsheet. And I can still use a DBF file for database records. Not locked into a proprietary format. At the same time I know I will need to create forms so other people can use the database. If it weren’t for the internet I could still run my business software on an old Pentium (I’ll concede that going back to CP/M would not be my favorite option).
Okay, so I’m also guilty of going off topic. But I remember having an office suite of programs in CP/M and DOS that gave us text editing, spreadsheet, card file, and a terminal. I have never seen such a nice setup in Linux. I always felt that Linux was not for small business users like CP/M and DOS was. But now with antiX Core CLI interface it is very similar to what I had in those CP/M and DOS days. And I can get on the modern day internet with no trouble. Pretty amazing to me.
Seaken64
PDP-8
Well, whaddya’ know? I saw an update come down for the cli control center, and while checking it out I saw that it picked up on my existing SC spreadsheet install.
Thank you masked-coder!
Wow, sometimes the smallest of things can leave a big impression. Kudos for sure.
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