The terminal is an important aspect of the Unix/Linux experience/culture. I think downplaying it's importance is a little shortsighted, especially since it is the most expressive and powerful interface for Unix and Unix-like environments yet. Wake me up when a user can create multiple directories simultaneously using a GUI.
We should be encouraging users to learn and use the terminal. It is especially useful when troubleshooting user problems over a network, and for several tasks, it is exceedingly efficient as compared to the best designed GUI. It is also worth knowing that most users are not going to remain n00bs for the rest of their lives. Most of them evolve to be very competent users and for such users the terminal may well be suitable. I know I'll be largely ignored because of my controversial stance, but the terminal is really a feature we want exposed to the user as early as possible and it should neither be hidden or removed. Yes, I know it is in vogue to label the terminal anathema, but I think we are yielding to societal pressures rather than the main issues with command driven applications, which is poorly designed interfaces. _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
