On Wed, 19 Mar 2025, Saku Ytti via NANOG wrote:
I am almost sure that this is not just Network, but this applies to
everything people use computers for.
If an application is something that you use infrequently, people will
prefer GUI.
If an application is something you work hours on end, people will prefer CLI.
Some people :)
To elaborate on this, I think GUIs are generally intended to make things
easier...and they often do. If you need to do something infrequently, the
GUI simplifies the task kind of like having training wheels on a bike.
When you need to do something repetitive and have a large pile of
repititions to get through, if the GUI doesn't support doing this via some
sort of batch operation, those training wheels just get in the way, and
something that could take minutes or less will take hours, days, etc.
Some people are ok with that and are content to sit at a desk pointing,
clicking, copying and pasting for days.
Of course, this is why we have APIs. So you can do the once in a while
version of a task via an easy to use GUI, but when you need to do it
hundreds or thousands of times, you can write code to automate the job.
Not everything on the network has an API, and not everything can easily be
done via API even when there is one...so sometimes the CLI is the best way
to get the job done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Lewis, MCP :) | I route
Blue Stream Fiber, Sr. Neteng | therefore you are
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