Re: RTFM

From: Rod Engelsman (rodengelsman_at_ruraltel.net)
Date: 04/22/05 

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:31:16 -0500

Peter T. Breuer wrote:

>>You're on. Without resorting to calling an application specifically
>>designed to perform the function (and which is practically guaranteed to
>>have a gui interface), what set of Linux shell commands -- piped,
>>redirected, etc. -- would *you* use to remove redeye from a digital photo?
>
>
> I would use a tool specially designed for that narrow specialist task.

I specified "Without resorting to calling an application specifically
designed to perform the function".

>
> It sounds like it requires visual/hand/eye coordination. So the answer
> is: I would have to do it by hand, using the computer as a mere tool,
> not an autonomous entity.

In other words, you would use a program with a graphical interface, most
likely in conjunction with a pointing device such as a mouse. If you
want your computer to be an autonomous entity, then why do you need
*any* interface?

>
> If there were a tool "touchup" that were capable of it I would run
>
> while (not_satisfactory picture); do
> touchup -remove_redeye picture;
> done
>
> Is there one?

Not very likely.

>
>
>>The CLI is a great UI... for a rather limited subset of functions that
>
>
> No, no limit. That's the point.

As long as you're willing to include calling up applications that
utilize graphical interfaces in your definition, then fine. But that
sort of renders you point moot.

>
> Many I time I reshuffled. Line numbers were invented for that.
>

Rubber bands helped. :)

>
>>But my main point is that they are essentially batch
>>processing tools.
>
>
> Exactly - unless you want to do it yourself, you have to tell somebody
> else what to do. Programming is telling somebody else what to do.

On a side note, I find it interesting that you use the phrase, "somebody
else". Do you consider your computer to be a person... a friend?

>
> Now find me all the files on ten computers that do not have the same
> hash (md5sum) as at least one of the corresponding files on one of the
> others, and replace them with the majority vote winner. Also, if a file
> is missing on the minority of the computers, install it. If it is
> missing on a majority, remove it.
>

I can't do that with a GUI. I also have no idea how to do that with a
CLI, although I will assume that it's possible. But the only reason that
  it's possible is that the commands exist to build up to that. Somebody
anticipated the need to do that sort of thing, or at least the building
blocks leading up to it.

But that really has little to do with CLI vs. GUI, directly.

The essence of a GUI is that it presents you with choices -- a menu.
Using a CLI is like walking into a restaurant and ordering without a
menu. Unless you already know all the dishes the restaurant offers,
you're kind of in the dark.

Think about a venerable old app like pine. It is an early example of a
GUI in that it has a menu at the bottom of the screen that directs you
to press certain function keys to perform certain tasks. You don't have
to remember that F3 does this and F4 does that. There's been many times
when using an app like a word processor or spread*** that I've wanted
to do something and all I had to do was browse the menus to find a
likely candidate.

Rod

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