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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Command Line (by Jordan on 2017-02-20 00:20:26 GMT from United States)
Once or twice as per Korora (Fedora) updates. Frequent for any distro I've been on in the past.
2 • I rarely use the command line (by Roy on 2017-02-20 00:23:03 GMT from United States)
But when I do it is for a good reason. It is good to use because it is fast. One can compare it to Morse code in a way it can operate when nothing else is operating.
3 • DOS From Scratch (by Roy on 2017-02-20 00:42:07 GMT from United States)
My old maintenance supervisor made me a Windows 95 boot up disk just for my CDROM entirely from DOS commands that constructed with the bare minimum RAM usage like some make Linux operating system like Core. You might say that is all command line.
4 • I run my own programs (by DaveW on 2017-02-20 00:45:44 GMT from United States)
I have a number of programs/scripts that I wrote and run from the command line. Also I do system maintenance and backup that way. Pretty much use the command line daily. Although, total system time on the terminal is certainly less than 5%.
5 • ReactOS 0.4.4 (by Paul M on 2017-02-20 02:33:10 GMT from Canada)
So.... The ReactOS team comes up with another computer-era milestone: print connectivity via parallel ports... displayed at the 2017 FOSDEM convention. Riiiighttttt...
Did you guys bring along a Xerox 630 Daisy-Wheel and an Epson MX-80 Dot-Matrix to show off your state-of-the-art printer dialog?!?
I swear, every time I read about another "achievement" by the ReactOS devs, I almost piss in my pants.... laughing... out loud....
Hilarious! Keep it coming, ReactOS guys!
6 • reactos (by jonathon on 2017-02-20 02:45:47 GMT from Australia)
https://www.reactos.org/joining/faqs
How can ReactOS help me?
If you want to learn about coding and Windows internals, you won't find a better real field case. You'll find in ReactOS the possibility to move from the book theory to the practical cases. This is the main reason why top-most sotware companies offer ReactOS Devs jobs opportunities. Also, from time to time (and when donations let us), we offer scholarships to our contributors for specific tasks to be done.
7 • @5 (by Thom on 2017-02-20 03:08:38 GMT from Sweden)
Dude, it's OK to not understand. The cure for that is to educate yourself, not ridicule others.
8 • CLI survey (by Rich'rd on 2017-02-20 04:02:58 GMT from United States)
Not to troll, but this week's survey is a bit absurd; I and probably most others, do not use CLI on a schedule, as implied. I use the commandline when I need to or when appropriate. For example, right now I use it quite a lot to fix broken program updates through apt-get -- specifically GiMP et al. from a PPA. Synaptic is useless to fix broken packages, as it will not force an installation with duplicated file dependencies. Were this not the case, I might use the CLI a lot less.
I am a regular user of this site, and find it very valuable; please take this comment as constructive criticism and not mindless complaining.
9 • ReactOS 0.4.4 @6 @7 (by Paul M on 2017-02-20 04:29:31 GMT from Canada)
@6
"How can ReactOS help me?"
Ok, I'll bite...
The Job Interview - HP Headquarters, Palo Alto
HP Project Manager: So, (ReactOS dev), I understand that you have some coding experience with printer drivers. Why don't you show me some examples of your work?
ReactOS dev: Ok, well... Give me juuuust a minute to set up here. (Drags in circa 1996 19" CRT monitor, microwave oven-size "desktop" computer, and an Epson dot-matrix printer and stack of continuous form-feed paper).
HP PM: What exactly is all this, uh, equipment for... I don't underst (gets cut off by ReactOS dev)
ReactOS dev: Alright, so, let me just boot into the OS, and I'll show you what I've been working on.... (Computer lights come on, CPU & PS fans whirring like a jet engine, floppy drive boots with usual grinding sound, printer boots up, beeping, blooping & buzzing....)
HP PM: (blank stare)
ReactOS dev: (OS boots to blue screen of death & locks up)... Oh, that's our cold room-reverse-engineered 'BSOD'... Hehe... I worked on that too, before I started on the printer API. Anyhow... let's re-boot & then I'll show you where we're at on the print spooler... (reboots)
HP PM: What kind of OS is this thing running? I haven't seen anything like this for 20 years! Love the retro hardware, though... I guess that's a 'hipster/millennial' thing, huh? (chuckling loudly)
ReactOS dev: Ok, well, we're re-booted anddd... here's the desktop. Never mind that the WM isn't displaying the desktop properly - that's been a work in progress since '96. So, let's get down to brass tacks... As you can see, I wrote a large portion of the code in Turbo Pascal - great language, btw... And check out the printer! Look at it run.... man, 80 characters/second... Ain't that something?
(About this point, a group of half a dozen HP engineers are gazing through the window into the interview room, with loud snorting and laughter coming from the hallway....)
HP PM: Uhh... Who put you up to this? Did Larry over at HP Enterprise set me up? Come on, I gotta know... I mean, this has got to be the best gag he's.... (gets cut off by ReactOS dev)
ReactOS dev: Look, this isn't a joke... The ReactOS team takes this very seriously... We've been working on this since 1996....
(Interrupted by howls of laughter from the hallway.... and a growing crowd of HP staff)
ReactOS dev: I'm not kidding... When I signed up with the ReactOS team, I was told, unequivocally, that "top-most sotware companies offer ReactOS Devs jobs opportunities"... See, it even says that VERBATIM right on our FAQ page... So, with that in mind, I'm thinking that I would entertain an offer slightly north of $120K/yr. + full benefits.... When can I start and where do I park?
HP PM: (Bursting out into laughter) Son, this has been THE BEST gag interview I've ever had ANYBODY pull on me... You tell Larry that he got me good... Oh, God, this made my day!!! (Leaves the room, laughing like a Hyena)...
@7
So, let me get this straight.... I am the one who needs to educate myself, you say?
10 • ReactOS (by Erich Friesen on 2017-02-20 04:50:34 GMT from United States)
Congratulations!
Not easy to write a binary compatible OS from the ground up, esp without much help from the original authors.
Congratulations, again!
11 • ReactOS project is cool, but why still bothering with Dot Matrix ?? (by Nemrut Guzelaydin on 2017-02-20 07:03:15 GMT from Canada)
@6 @7 @9 @10
i agree with the above-stated commentators in regard to ReactOS project ..., as ReactOS team, indeed, deserves nothing but encouragement, praise, respect and donations for such a unique and promising project. .....
But at the same time, i think the commentator @5 has a valid argument ...... Accordingly, i wonder what's really the point to waste your precious resources to code for an absolute hardware ??
12 • ReactOS (by Raj on 2017-02-20 07:03:16 GMT from India)
A nice effort, windows based OS just under 100MB
13 • GUI vs CLI (by zykoda on 2017-02-20 07:51:20 GMT from United Kingdom)
CLI is king. GUI usually slower and can lack required control. Graphics is expensive on resources (memory, CPU, GPU, disk, bandwidth) and browsing/email opens the door for advertising and malware....even with blockers.
14 • Command Line (by Platypus on 2017-02-20 08:53:06 GMT from Australia)
So it confirms that Linux is for geeks. I must say the results so far are a surprise to me. I would have expect way more people using GUI alternatives.
15 • RaspBSD, & No.8 (by Someguy on 2017-02-20 09:31:51 GMT from United Kingdom)
Have to agree with No.8. Can go for weeks/months without needing CLI, then use it for several sessions, e.g file transfer & mods.
Nice review of RaspBSD. Haven't tried it yet. How to activate LXDE. Yes, some of the RPi distros can be slow. Only odd-one-out is Quirky Xerus 8.1.4 for Raspberry Pi2 and 3, based on Puppy. Runs like lightning - recommend trying.
16 • @14 "Linux is for geeks" (by Microlinux on 2017-02-20 11:06:32 GMT from France)
There is a difference between Linux ADMINISTRATION and Linux USE. My company installs Linux desktops and servers for small businesses, pro users and even the odd casual user. I'm using my own Slackware-based distribution, so I guess I am what you should call a geek. On the other hand, my users (students, teachers, employees, library staff etc.) merely use the Linux desktop by clicking on icons, moving applications windows around, etc. For them, Linux is very easy, and I think some of them don't even know that this thing running on their computer is called "Linux".
17 • Command Line (by jymm on 2017-02-20 11:45:40 GMT from United States)
I rarely use the command line, and when I do I need a tutorial from a specific site. I do have an apt-get cheat sheet (built from the DistroWatch package management page). Mostly just update and upgrade. I am a pretty casual computer user and have no desire to learn and remember tons of Linux commands.
18 • CLI (by sydneyj on 2017-02-20 12:23:46 GMT from United States)
As @13 points out, the command line is king. It's your best friend, and it's where all the power and all the fun resides. I'm a bit surprised at the number of people who rarely, or never use it.
19 • ReactOS job guarantee (by Debianrocks on 2017-02-20 12:54:09 GMT from India)
@9, your comment really had me LAUGHING OUT LOUD!
20 • cmd line (by wally on 2017-02-20 13:31:34 GMT from United States)
40 browser tabs, Thunderbird for email, 4 LOffice windows, choose to use MySQL workbench rather than cl for convenience, other than that I'm working in 22 terminal windows
21 • @9 What's with the long winded trolls? (by chowyunpat on 2017-02-20 13:35:23 GMT from United States)
@9 You remind of a poster on OSnews that used to ridicule alternative and hobby OSes, and you really put a lot of effort into it, why not use that for something positive, instead of ragging on someone else for experimentingvand trying some different things?
22 • command line (by a on 2017-02-20 13:39:45 GMT from France)
It’s often faster and simpler for me to use a terminal when I want to open a file, rather than use a GUI. I also use "find" rather than a GUI search program when I’m looking for something for the same reason. You need a terminal to use Wine. And then there’s the fact Gentoo has no graphical package manager… Plenty of reasons to use a terminal every day. Restricting oneself to GUI tools makes no sense.
23 • Tips and Tricks - and the command line (by far2fish on 2017-02-20 13:48:01 GMT from Europe)
I really liked the Tips and Tricks section this week, and got some comments:
I was not aware of the chsh command. Have always used 'usermod -s {full-path-to-shell} {username}' the few times I had to configure a user (or myself) to use a new default shell. So learned something new today.
About the "ip address show | grep inet" command, I only use "ip addr | grep inet" to get the same output.
pkill, never used that, and not killall either due to the possibility of killing the wrong processes. One alternative is to pipe ps -ef over to grep, then pipe it over to sed to remove mutilple white spaces before piping it over to cut to find array of PIDs you want to kill.
ps -ef | grep chromium-browser | grep -v grep | sed -e 's/ */ /g' | cut -d " " -f2 | while read file; do kill $file; done
Not very pretty, but you could wrap in in a script.
Command Line:
I prefer to use the command line as much as possible, and in particular after many distros have started using systemd it has also become a bit easier with the systemctl admin commands, so you don't need to remember distro specific ways of doing things any longer.
24 • command line (by Hoos on 2017-02-20 14:33:47 GMT from Singapore)
I find that updating rolling distros seem to go best/cleanest in command line. So it's apt-get (Sid), pacman (Manjaro) and equo (Sabayon).
For Fedora (Korora) and OpenSUSE, I use CLI when I have to upgrade to the next release version.
Otherwise it's GUI all the way for me.
25 • CLI vs GUI (by Igor Šuljić on 2017-02-20 15:18:03 GMT from Croatia)
The fact that one in four of the people who visit this place and cared to answer the poll seldom use CLI points to unnoticed conclusion: how good and useful Linux DEs became.
So, here is one fact about CLI vs GUI. These days I have to rewrite some musical compositions out of old dusty, ugly written, much corrected and faded manuscripts to printable files, so that this music can be preformed. There is nice CL program to handle the task, LilyPond. To use it I have to learn another musical notation, akin to tabulatura, quite primitive musical script, because command line accepts only alphanumerics. I have to learn it just to render standard musical notation I am proficient at into this same notation, the only one both the composer and his future performers use. My time is limited, and this is not the only task I have to accomplish for the project. Did I mention that I am doing it in my spare time? What about mistakes? Well, they are apparent once the script is compiled, so, basically, the user debugs her script. There is another, GUI program, MuseScore that handles the same task by pointing and clicking, and this just happens to be the way one writes musical notes by pen down to the paper: placing various signs around. Results are immediately visible on screen, it is standard musical notation and easy to correct. Now, why inventing another musical script, just to typeset the advanced and standard one? Because it is way simpler and cleaner to program, and the programmer did it in his spare time too. Besides, programming typesetting engine is macho (it really is), while decorating fancy windows is... well, not macho.
Oh, I am late, and the project poses other tasks to accomplish. There is bunch of old photos taken by enthusiasts, as dusty and as faded, poorly scanned, that need facelift so they can be printed and exhibited. Now, there is quite a piece of CL program, ImageMagick, that can do just about anything any of Adobe stuff can do, and more. There are no objections to it. It was written as an engine, has got its API, and is accessible programmatically to its huuuge advantage. But imagine blind retouching an image. Or, even when the result is ready to observe quickly, translating all you intend to do with some visible surface to mathematical transformations. On the other hand, that expensive and detested Adobe stuff is mapping all those transformations into what a painter of carver actually does: touching the surface with the brush, or some other similar tool. Most important: the result is immediately visible, true interactivity.
Don't get me wrong. CLI is still great for many tasks, after more than half a century, particularly the tasks in IT system engineering. No one invented anything GUI to beat regular expressions, nor is it likely to ever happen. And don't forget to take a user into account. There are very different people around. The fellow who taught me UNIX programming admitted he personally knew only one programmer able to debug in command line, but to that guy IDE window is probably just bewildering clutter. Not persons, brains are different. Yet, with due respect, GUI won. It won Linux too, and for good reason. Computers, programs, IT are serving some purposes, many purposes, and some people, various people. The expertise of these people mostly lays out of IT, and when they find some spare time to educate themselves, they will pick this field of their proper expertise, rather than IT. I don't blame them.
26 • on the command line question... (by tom joad on 2017-02-20 15:34:56 GMT from France)
Back in the dark ages when I began using linux I was told the command line was where the action was.
Being a fleeing windows user I laughed. Give me a GUI and I am happy and on I went. That was dapper Drake.
And well this is now and this week's question rang a bell in my head.
Nowadays I use the command line a lot every day. Over the intervening years I have discovered, backed into the realization really, a user is shown clear, accurate info about exactly what the computer is doing. Sometimes that info is critical while other time the output is just informational, a landmark on the way somewhere. At times, I have been able to recover use of a system long after the password been forgotten. Invaluable.
With command line, help is this close even without the internet, --help.
Another unspoken part of the question is; how many linux commands do you know? Every so often I give my self a bit of a test. I will take a sheet of paper to note all the commands I can recall in five minutes. The list is getting longer but not nearly long enough.
To new users; the command IS where the action is.
27 • CLI vs GUI (by Alexandru on 2017-02-20 16:12:35 GMT from Romania)
These two human-machine interaction paradigms have different use-cases. In modern Linux almost all operations can be done in GUI. However sometimes it is really more convenient to use CLI. Consider you have a collection of many images of different size, quality, format, etc and you want to make their thumb sized versions to publish on your site. You can do it in GIMP working several months or with ImageMagick CLI in several seconds.
When arguing about GUI vs CLI I always make the following illustration: Using GUI is like a sign language - intuitive, no previous knowledge is necessary and you can express most ideas with try-catch approach. Using CLI is like human language - you definitely need to learn it, but you can express much more sophisticated ideas more concise this way. When you travel first time in some country and you don't speak local language first thing is to use some sort of sign language to communicate with people, but if you plan to live in this country you will need to learn local language.
That being said, I do not consider ALL interaction has to be done in CLI or that GUI is useless. In many cases GUI interaction is preferred. However, when some application GUI gets over-complicated and bloated it is really easier to learn 2 CLI commands with 5 switches and combine them in 1000000 different ways than to search these 1000000 GUI elements in the application menu.
28 • ReactOS usefulness (by DaveW on 2017-02-20 18:03:26 GMT from United States)
ReactOS will become significant for me when I can run my WinXP programs, along with current browsers, email, firewall, and anti-virus. Until then, it's just a toy. My personal opinion is that they are at least 12 years too late for what the OS will do.
29 • ReactOS (by eM on 2017-02-20 18:56:11 GMT from Poland)
When I first discovered ReactOS I was amazed that such a project exists. Years gone by and it's still in early alpha. Even worse, back then it did work on my PC, right now I tested it on many laptops and PCs and I didn't manage to boot it on any of them. I think it's one of these projects that has more hype than real work underneath. Linux didn't need so many years to get things going. I know it's harder because they want to be binary compatible with Windows but I think it's better to have something that works so user can at least run a browser and media player and than later try to make it more compatible. I wish them all the best in the future but as things stand I think Q4OS is a better way if you want something that feels like Windows.
30 • CLI (by scrumtime on 2017-02-20 20:09:35 GMT from Nicaragua)
I use the CLI quite a lot though i don't really need to , I guess it is more out of habit
I use Open / fluxbox on most of my Comps and have always found it as easy to open programs / documents from terminal .I generally use the same apps daily so i just run back through my last inputs...
ReactOS Its great that people are still working at it, hopefully the day will come when it becomes something everyone needs and will justify the hours and work people have put it...I'm certain it has been a great learning tool for people and obviously have got a lot of enjoyment out of it or they would have given up
31 • ReactOS (by Jordan on 2017-02-20 20:40:09 GMT from United States)
It is not offensive to note how far behind the rest of the Linux world the ReactOS is. It's a bit of an achievement, I suppose, to tackle the Windows functionality from a Unix standpoint, but isn't that a bit of a novelty project?
I respect the "right" to do that, I just have misgivings about taking it seriously as a needed OS.
32 • Command line... (by Vukota on 2017-02-20 20:52:35 GMT from Montenegro)
I agree with @9, there should have been another option: "Using CLI when needed". I often have Terminal Window open to do various tasks at hand. Same thing I do under Windows for the similar reasons, but CLI under Linux/BSD is much more powerful and useful. I prefer GUI when tasks can be done easily using GUI applications, but when doing programming and server administration command line is still necessary (in both Linux and Windows).
33 • ReactOS & Garmin Express (by Lawrence on 2017-02-20 20:58:00 GMT from United States)
If ReactOS allows full functionality of the Garmin Express program I will download it and install it to one of my spare computers.
Does Garmin Express fully work on it just as it does on a Windows 10 computer? Does ReactOS allow updating Garmin Express to the latest version?
Thanks to anyone who knows the answers.
34 • Command line, sometimes no choice. (by PhPh on 2017-02-20 21:01:45 GMT from United States)
I need to bridge the Wifi of a Raspberry Pi to its ethernet connector. While in Windows or MacOS only a few clics would be necessary, I haven't found an easy solution for Raspbian that doesn't require non trivial networking command line skills. Definitely daunting for this new Linux user.
35 • CLI (by Dave Postles on 2017-02-20 21:07:52 GMT from United Kingdom)
1 Actually, I'm surprised that more people don't use the CLI, at least for one specific purpose: dd; since lots of laptops now don't come with a DVD drive to burn an iso image (so to use dd, you also need to cd, ls, cd .. etc). 2 What I tend to do is initially to reload the package list in the software centre, then use the cli to install packages thereafter (apt-get, pacman, tazpkg, urpmi etc etc) of I know precisely what I want and that it's in the repository (I now know which have clamtk and which only have clamav, which helps).
Interestingly, I caught up again with OSgeo at the end of last week. I hadn't realized that it was now available in 64-bit. I don't really like the Lubuntu desktop, so I've downloaded XFCE4 which is much nicer (with XFCE-dusk - sucker for a dark theme) and transparency on both panels. Then install LibreOffice (which doesn't come pre-installed), clamtk, vlc, GIMP, and I need to add tor and torsocks, (I double-installed rkward for R by mistake-it was already pre-installed with R). All that transforms it from a basically GIS system to a full system with a full set og GIS software. The download for the basic GIS system is, however, very large: 4.2 Gb (I think with no torrent). I couldn't, however, spend all the time myself identifying and downloading the GIS apps, even if they were all in the repos.
36 • Command Line (by Steve on 2017-02-21 01:29:58 GMT from United States)
When I build a server I deliberately leave the GUI interface behind, it is a gross waste of resources on a server. Anyone that thinks a GUI is appropriate for a server needs to have their training wheels removed so that they can really learn how systems actually works. Any system that insists on a GUI interface (ie. Windows) should never be used for a server, it just doesn't make any sense.
Now... on a desktop I'm inclined to include a GUI interface (my current preference being MATE) but I still do a lot of work from the command line on my desktop machine. It's faster and more powerful that most GUI interfaces to the same tools. But, since a desktop is usually used for applications that are graphical in nature, it makes sense to have the graphical desktop.
My views may seem a bit off the norm, but I also worked on main frames and mini computers before (and since) the "modern" PC became common. The GUI has always been wasteful of system resources, even when it's needed for desktop applications.
37 • CLI, GUI, we all ... (by Somewhat Reticent on 2017-02-21 03:17:30 GMT from United States)
One user's 'waste of resources' is another user's critical tool.
A badly-designed GUI may be 'worse' than CLI, but that doesn't mean a GUI is never appropriate or 'better'; after all, its purpose is to abstract irrelevancies away so the user can focus on some particular task. Designing a good GUI is valid work, and requires understanding perception and feedback involved in performing that task - not everyone has the talent needed. Point-and-click gets new users up to speed quicker, but shifty-keystrokes give the rich vocabulary required by highly-productive sophisticates.
CLI usage benefits from enhancements like multiple (virtual) terminal tabs or screens, partial completion suggestions, and display of command options or structures involved. And then there's language translation.
It's all part of connecting humans and computers. Not everyone is good at this; a variety of skills and abilities is not always bad.
38 • CLI (by kennedy on 2017-02-21 06:34:29 GMT from South Africa)
I use slackware on desktop, installation of packages and updates is all CLI but once that's done the rest of life is GUI only. Startx is the last command on CLI when I boot.
39 • command line (by argent on 2017-02-21 10:30:52 GMT from United States)
Started with Linux Debian about 4 years ago and other than apt-get little other CLI uses. Over the last year or so use it almost exclusively, from builds to playing music, only way to go really.
40 • RaspBSD Review (by Andy Mender on 2017-02-21 10:34:02 GMT from Austria)
Jesse, you are aware that neither the -CURRENT nor the -STABLE branches of FreeBSD can be upgraded via freebsd-update? The utility is available to all branches, but the servers are only for -RELEASE and -RC branches.
This highlights an important point, though. RaspBSD would be a bit better off to use -RELEASE, because then one can easily do binary updates to the kernel + system toolchain. However, the reason for using 12-CURRENT is probably hardware compatibility, which is in a BETA state at the moment. My guess, that is.
Per my experience, FreeBSD was always a lot more reproducible and solid when considering the base system :).
41 • Speed of the command line vs GUI (by jymm56 on 2017-02-21 11:40:15 GMT from United States)
With my typing ability, the command line is much slower than a GUI. Hunt and Peck! LOL!
42 • about ReactOS... (by tom joad on 2017-02-21 14:40:55 GMT from Romania)
So, if I understand the project correctly, the end result is a functioning Linux / Unix version of Windows?
And? That it?
Ok.
Why?
43 • @31 @42 ReactOS (by curious on 2017-02-21 14:58:42 GMT from Germany)
It helps to actually read about something first. To be very clear: ReactOS IS NOT LINUX and IS NOT UNIX. While the Project collaborates with other open source projects (e.g. Wine), it is somthing fundamentally different - their goal is an independently developed, free Windows-compatible OS. That means binary-compatible, not just able to emulate Windows inside another OS such as Linux.
So they aren't "behind the REST of the Linux world" because they aren't part of it. And they aren't trying to tackle Windows functionality "from a Unix standpoint" or to create a Linux/Unix version of Windows.
ReactOS is (like Haiku, KolibriOS, RISC OS Open) one of the very few non-Unix OSes covered by DistroWatch. That alone makes it interesting, although they still have very far to go from a practical standpoint.
44 • ReactOS (by Paul M on 2017-02-21 15:39:54 GMT from Canada)
@43
Well.... they're implementing ext & btrfs file system support (both developed for LINUX) and using GNU tools... so, ReactOS IS UNIX-like in many ways...
So, even if it isn't technically Linux or UNIX based, the point that myself, @31, @42, et al are making is still valid - and that you only hint at - is that, from a PRACTICAL standpoint, this project makes no sense. The ReactOS people started this project in 1996... let me repeat... 1996.... and they are STILL in ALPHA... after 21 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for what? To cold-room, reverse engineer Windows 95/NT? When do you suppose they'll get to Beta releases? Release-candidates? Full release?
So, hypothetically, let's say that they go Beta within 2 years, and get to a full release in another 2 years after that. And what will we have? AFTER 25 YEARS, WE WOULD NOW HAVE A WINDOWS 95 UNIX-LIKE CLONE.... Riigghttt....
Like @28 says, "they are at least 12 years too late for what the OS will do."
And that is why I am ragging on the project... it's a waste of time & effort - in REAL-WORLD, PRACTICAL terms...
45 • ReactOS (by Hans M on 2017-02-21 17:43:21 GMT from Germany)
@44
I wouldn't subscribe to the idea that ReactOS is Unix-like only because it has ext & btrfs file system support. Sounds a bit like saying Linux is Windows-like because it has NTFS support.
And to insinuate that they are working on a Windows 95 clone is only evidence of a bad way of discussing things. I am sure you know they are targeting Windows Server 2003. So let's call it that.
46 • Command Line (by DaveT on 2017-02-21 20:34:24 GMT from United Kingdom)
More than half my working day is spent on the command line. I have multiple terminals in multiple workspaces to ssh into our debian wheezy servers where I get to use vim or grep through logs or drag data out of our postgres database using sql. The rest of my day is spent on debian wheezy using xfce. For writing code I am lazy and use sshfs and then gvim in one of the other workspaces. It pays the mortgage and there are worse jobs.
And ReactOS? What ever floats your boat and why should any of us get in a strop about it? Yes you @44. The so-called Real World? I gave up on that more than 40 years ago! Practical has its' place and I can do Practical, I've designed Practical hardware and the Practical software to go with it. But mainly I do Fun and ignore the sad sad people that say it is impractical.
47 • ReactOS @10 (by G Savage on 2017-02-21 20:37:39 GMT from Canada)
Agreed. Building any OS from scratch deserves adulation, not derision.
Congrats to the ReactOS team.
And to the haters I like Haiku too. So there.
48 • ReactOS (by Paul M on 2017-02-22 04:03:49 GMT from Canada)
@45
Love that dry German humor....
49 • CLI use (by kay on 2017-02-22 09:20:14 GMT from Canada)
Linux adept now for 10 years every time I use more CLI as before. It's fast self explaining and shows whats happening. What to do when GUI is not working. Only CLI helps you to make your system work again.
Everybody a bit more interested whats happening behind should use CLI. Learn by using it. Play around and discover the power of it!
50 • ffmpeg (by Tim Dowd on 2017-02-22 13:35:11 GMT from United States)
One place I'm surprised I haven't seen more people saying they're using the command line is with ffmpeg. Video editing is often one of the most resource-intensive things people do with their computers, but ffmpeg gives you so much control and is so well documented that you can do it on comparatively modest hardware. I think its efficiency and adaptability are tied in with the flexibility of its CLI interface
51 • reactos (by OStrich on 2017-02-23 05:14:12 GMT from Australia)
reactos would be useful if it could run utilities like bios flash tools, and drivers and firmware upgrades for hardware gadgets. these programs often only come as windows executables.
So reactos would be best suited as a utilities/diagnostic live cd imho. And surely making lots of small utility programs work would make it progress faster than trying to make large programs work on it. And if it got full USB support that would be a boost.
Meanwhile, the 0.5 release is expected to have a Vista-like desktop appearance - wooot!
52 • 51 • ReactOS (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2017-02-23 09:49:14 GMT from United States)
FreeDOS is commonly used for BIOS (firmware) updates; it's small, simple, and fairly well-established.
…
ReactOS _could_ extend the useful life of a rather large accumulation of freeware, shareware, and other software (on suitable hardware, of course) developed during Windows' golden years. Possibly better than emulation or virtual machine.
Of course, this could, in theory, compete, however marginally, with Microsoft's current product line, and that could justify financial contributions with non-disclosable conditions (like keeping a project purely academic), or legal attacks. In theory.
53 • RE: ffmpeg and GUIs (by AndyMender on 2017-02-23 11:28:40 GMT from Austria)
@50,
I use ffmpeg (among most other things) in CLI. Partially as an add-on to youtube-dl and sometimes to recode audio/video for colleagues who get media files with "strange extensions" and only use Windows as end-users :).
I believe both CLI and GUI has its place. Some actions are vastly easier to perform with a graphical user interface. Some, on the other hand, are obfuscated by badly written and uninformative GUIs (of which there are many). Especially, when it comes to error handling and debugging.
It's a lot different when an application is written with the GUI in mind and when the GUI was added on top of a legacy CLI.
54 • @9 Now seriuos talk (by Vytas on 2017-02-23 14:03:43 GMT from Lithuania)
We made billion investment into print speed now outperform us with hobby project and you will be hired.
55 • Thunderbird returning to Debian. (by Ronald Clifford Buckman on 2017-02-25 00:33:05 GMT from United States)
It's good that Debian is going back to an unmodified Thunderbird, much like Debian returned to using Firefox ESR after years of shipping Iceweasel. As a person who has Devuan Jessie on two computers and Debian Wheezy on a USB hard drive, I expect Devuan which has been getting most of their packages from Debian, to also switch from Icedove to Thunderbird. I am currently using Icedove 45.6.0 which is the last stable version released under the Icedove name.
56 • ReactOS and Naysayers (by Froggy on 2017-02-25 01:59:09 GMT from United States)
First off: Congratulations to the ReactOS team. Great job my old friends.
Some of you might remember me, but most will not. I dropped off the face of the earth, exactly because of this junk. Now, I lurk. I haven't posted anywhere until now. So, I will say my peace, unless the powers that be decide to censor me.
People fighting with each other over this and that and the other. The community has fallen apart over the years. Fanbois and girls screaming that their way is best. Or people screaming about a new distro. Getting upset that their favorite distro has decided to go in a different direction than they want.
So stop the screaming and bullying. Now, time for me to disappear again..
57 • #56 (by Stephone on 2017-02-25 09:34:35 GMT from United Kingdom)
Fine sentiments wasted here I'm afraid.
58 • @56 (by Jordan on 2017-02-25 19:35:36 GMT from United States)
Baloney. You've missed a lot of spirited discussion over the years in the early days of DW. You also may be forgetting that some of us have been here from the beginning and remember it all fondly and note that nothing has changed at all except for the eb and flow of the subject matter. It comes and goes, just like any other good forum.
The sensitive ones who like to pretend like all the others are bad for taking part in spirited discussion are few here, fortunately. But welcome back.
59 • ifconfig.me not working? (by Ricardo on 2017-02-26 03:36:18 GMT from Argentina)
Lately iconfig.me is not working for me, I found an alternative that works pretty well:
$ curl ifconfig.co
There's also IPv4 and IPv6 specific versions:
$ curl v4.ifconfig.co
$ curl v6.ifconfig.co
Cheers.
Number of Comments: 59
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
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