Comment by hnlmorg
9 days ago
That’s a very specific gripe to make. So specific that you have to acknowledge it’s not going to be a deal breaker for everyone. Which makes me wonder why you’d use the “Stockholm Syndrome” argument — assuming you used it in good faith and not just because you wanted to sound edgy (or some approximate synonym of)
It's a thing that confuses every single person the first time they touch a terminal! Could do without the diction-based ad hominem.
> It's a thing that confuses every single person the first time they touch a terminal!
I get that. But it doesn’t mean those that prefer the terminal have Stockholm Syndrome.
The terminal is a UI optimised for keyboard entry. So of course mouse input to move the caret wouldn’t be something that is prioritised to support.
Again, that’s not Stockholm Syndrome; it’s just a different workflow.
> Could do without the diction-based ad hominem.
You’re the one making ad hominem attacks by saying CLI users suffer from “Stockholm Syndrome”. That was your comment not mine.
I said I was willing to take your comment in good faith. Which isn’t a personal attack.
I’m really not interesting in meta arguments nor using intentionally antagonistic language. And if you continue to communicate this way then I will just ignore you.
You're taking the Stockholm syndrome thing way too seriously. I wasn’t trying to imply terminal users are irrational or trapped, I'm just pointing out that some default behaviors are genuinely non-obvious to newcomers and feel rough around the edges at first. That’s more about historical ergonomics than user psychology.
Terminals optimize for keyboard-centric workflows and composability. Once that mental model clicks, a lot of the tradeoffs make sense. But the first-contact confusion is real and pretty universal, which is what I wanted to highlight.
I agree it’s not useful to escalate into meta arguments about tone. Different tools, different workflows, different preferences. The interesting part is how we lower the initial friction without losing the power that keeps people using them decades later.
Which, Ghostty added cl=line support in e06742b36ec9, so we're getting there!