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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Why do you use the terminal? (self.linux)

submitted 6 months ago by Waffelson to c/[email protected]

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Hi, everybody Recently, a guy noticed that I was using it and asked why? For me it because in Linux many things are done through the terminal because Linux has many different desktop environments

He also compared terminal commands with cheat codes in GTA and other games, he understands what benefits you take from them, but not from terminal commands

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[–] cbarrick 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm a software developer. I think about my interactions with computers as language. And Posix shell is a pretty good programming language.

So interacting with the computer this way just makes sense to my monkey brain.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I'm a shell user too, but as a programming language I would rate Bash utter garbage. Fine for little piping but for longer scripts I will be reaching for Haskell.

[–] cbarrick 1 points 6 months ago

Shell and Haskell are for different purposes.

Shell is for composing tools that work on text streams.

Haskell is for writing new tools or for programming against other (more structured) data models.

Also, shell programs are small. The interpreter can be tiny. Re-compiling every new tool can add a ton of bloat.

Also also, the key to effective shell programming is to recognize it as a macro language.