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Comment by int_19h

6 months ago

The reason why GUIs became so popular so quickly after they were introduced is because text is not "just a better interface for a general use computer".

Like OP, I remember the days when command line was all you had, and even then we used stuff like TUI file managers to mitigate the pain of it.

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int_19h

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eikenberry  6 months ago

But GUIs never took off as a UI for a general purpose computer, they became the UI for application on a general purpose computer. For them to be the former requires them to be programmable. Smalltalk is the best/most-famous example of a Graphical UI for a general purpose computer I can think of...

The main point is that for a general purpose computer the UI needs to integrate programming. Programming is how you use a computer. The shell (text) is currently the primary UI that inherently allows programming.

  • int_19h  6 months ago

    CLI is also specific to apps in practice, and I don't see any obvious difference between scripted CLI and scripted (with the likes of Active Scripting or AppleScript, or for that matter Tcl etc) GUI apps.

    • eikenberry  6 months ago

      The difference is that you don't use Active Scripting, AppleScript, TCL, etc. as your primary UI. The shell is a script-able UI.