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>I recently saw an ad for a TW where it stated that having experience with
>Command Line Interfaces was a plus. What are these? What does one have to
>know as far as documentation goes? Why would this experience be a plus? Does
>anyone have a sample?
A command line interface is one in which you use a function by
typing it in, instead of selecting it by using the mouse and an
icon or a menu. Typically, you type the basic command, followed
by an option (sometimes called a switch), followed by the files
you want to work with.
I don't know why the company you mentioned wanted command line
experience, but the general advantage of a command line interface
is that, because of the options, you can control what you are
doing with much greater precision than with a graphical interface
like the Windows desktop. In almost every case, a graphical
interface only offers the functions that most users need most of
the time. It's almost impossible to do otherwise in most cases
without cluttering up the graphical interface and defeating the
ease-of-use that is its main rationale.
As a result, many experienced users of UNIX and Linux, where
graphical interfaces were slower to catch on, dismiss graphical
interfaces as a "dumbing down" of the system. They're right, in
the sense that you need to master the command line to use the
full power of an operating system. However, what they fail to
understand is the fact that most users don't need that high a
level of expertise to accomplish their daily tasks.
Any way, saying that you have command line experience is
equivalent to saying that you're an expert user. That may be one
reason for the requirement in the ad.
Another reason may be that the tech writer will be dealing with
software that doesn't have a graphical interface. If the software
is only seen by system administrators, then often the command
line is all that is supplied. Many high power users prefer the
control of a command line, and there is also a "command line
macho" that dismisses the idea of anything easier as a crutch for
wimps.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
"The Open Road" column, Maximum Linux
3015 Aries Place, Burnaby, BC V3J 7E8, Canada
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7189
"Hey, Johnnie Cope, are you waulking yet,
Or are you sleeping, I would wit,
O get up, for the drums do beat,
Fie, Cope, get up in the morning!
-Robert Burns, "Johnnie Cope"
