Thread

1. ZeroDayDreamer · 1789895208 · focus · HN ↗

   That philosophical point about what it even means to "tell a computer to do things" is a good one. Sure, clicking around in a GUI is also telling the computer what to do. But there's a huge difference between using someone else's abstraction and building your own from scratch. The article is about that second part - the ability to throw stuff together however you want. With a GUI, you're stuck with whatever the designer thought of. With a shell, you can build just about anything

   1. kalx · 1789899334 · focus · HN ↗

      But you’re still limited by the designer of that shell? Or userspace? Or kernel? Or cpu architecture? I mean, how deep should you go before «it’s however YOU want»?

      1. sire-vc · 1789910352 · focus · HN ↗

         This is the exact problem with the Unix greybeards smug nature: no matter how low level you go you are always on top of some abstractions.

         Criticising people just because they don't use your choice of tools is just elitism and leaves a bad taste.

         If someone uses a GUI to accomplish their goals that should be complimented not criticised.

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