Sometimes shell commands and other apps are great.
mv file folder
for example is a bit less cumbersome than finding file, cutting it, finding
folder and pasting file into folder. However, selecting multiple files and
moving or copying them is actually easier when I can just go through the file
list with control+arrows, keep holding down the control key and tap the space
bar on each file I want to select. Unless of course I do want to copy or move
every file matching a pattern, and then the shell is easier again. Still,
overall, especially for things like email, browsing, word processing, text
editing and the like, if I want to just sit in front of the computer and be as
productive as I can possibly be, getting as much done as possible, I use desktop
applications every time. Terminal applications with their clunky and
inconsistent interfaces that can't even interact with one another except through
piping are only good if I want to read a ton of documentation just to figure out
something as simple as setting up my email application to receive mail via
secure IMAP and send it out via secure SMTP, complete with the ability to just
read a thread I want and delete the rest. And editing text and word processing
are highly consistent within desktop environments as well, whereas if I don't
have sshfs installed to mount my server on my local filesystem so that I can
edit a file using pluma, gedit or leafpad, I can only use nano or similar, which
although it's one of the easiest editors to use, is still a mystery when it
comes to doing simple tasks like cutting a word or two out of one part of a file
and pasting it to another part. Even selecting 5 lines and part of the sixth and
then deleting everything is more complicated in nano than it has to be, since
using any desktop text editor, I am able to simply hit the shifted down arrow 5
times, then shift+control+right over the part of the sixth line I want selected
and then just hit the delete key to delete everything. Even as easy as it is,
Nano makes me hit control+k 5 times and then hit the delete key letter by letter
for the parts of the sixth line I want to delete. This is just clunky and
unwieldy, and I feel that I have less control over my file and my editor,
certainly not more. So in the end, productivity wins, and I use the desktop
application almost all the time.
~Kyle
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