Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

You learn about the terminal by playing with it, screwing things up, and learning from your experiences. It's fun! :D

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

It's fun for hardcore computer nerds.

Not fun at all for the rest of us.

I have a lot of non-computer responsibilities in my life, all I want my computer to do is open applications when I click on their icons. I don't want to have to learn another language.

Note that I COULD learn command line stuff if I wanted to, but I don't WANT to. It is a waste of time for me. Life is too short to do things that you think are a waste of time.

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

Well, then you won't be one of the people asking for tips about the terminal. But when someone asks, I assume they want to know!

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

Ah well I'd agree with that, but only if the newbie specifically asks to be told.

If they're just asking stuff like "how do I format a memory card" then the GUI method is the best response.

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

I would second that advice. If a newbie asks how to do something and the answer involves typing commands into the terminal, the newbie should be told "The only way to do that is to learn how to use the terminal app. For an introduction to terminal functions, see X."

X is a page in the wiki that as far as I can tell doesn't exist. Perhaps someone could write up a basic introduction along the lines of the Root Access page (http://wiki.maemo.org/Root_access)

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

I think it's undeniable that someone with a working knowledge of the command line can get things done much more quickly than someone without, especially as it doesn't preclude using a well-designed GUI when it makes the job easier.

The time you're talking about wasting is really negligible (imho). At the most a couple of days of actual use to get the basics. It'll pay you back in spades when you want to rename hundreds of files in a photo album (for example).

Jan

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

If you spend a lot of time in the command line, it becomes second nature. If you don't, it becomes something you have to research each time you use it.

Your file rename is a good example. If you do it in a command line, you get one shot and you better have each parameter exactly correct. If you do it right, it's lightning fast. If you don't, you have a mess to fix.

If you use a program like Métamorphose you can play with the parameters and preview the changes before executing them. It also checks for file name errors that result from the renaming. You can also do fancier stuff like pulling data out of EXIF and ID3 tags.

P.S. Métamorphose can be found at http://file-folder-ren.sourceforge.net/
Métamorphose is written in Python, with Python source and a deb package available. Anyone want to port it?

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

You're probably right with your first point Dave! Though luckily everyone with a maemo device will have ample opportunity to use the command line every day :D

By "basics" I don't mean a detailed knowledge of (e.g.) rename, but the ability to type "man rename", understand what you read and put it into practice.

As I said, if there is a well designed GUI available to do the job there's no reason not to use it. That won't be the case for every situation though, and I suppose it isn't currently the case for our photo example in maemo5.

Less importantly, I'd suggest that any knowledge / experience gained from using Métamorphose is probably not going to make the next "powerful" thing you attempt any easier, whereas getting to grips with rename might do.

Anyway, I suppose I was just trying to say that time spent learning more about the system you're using doesn't seem to be too much of a waste, and will probably pay you back over time.

Cheers,
Jan

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

Oops! That was me! I should probably get rid of that old account...

Re: Noobs should use terminal!
 

It is indeed a pretty good tip, there is another one however.

I've always taken the habit of starting my root commands with #, then typing the command etc, and after reviewing it (and not hitting enter by mistake), I go back and remove the #.

So basically, I would type:

So that if I, by mistake, hit the enter button at the wrong time I don't kill the whole home directory, or worse, root.

My 2c.