Many people wonder why using Linux is so difficult. These people should have tried it a few years ago!

With each revision of the operating system Linux gets easier for the novice to use. The important thing to remember about it is, Linus Torvalds designed an operating system that was command line only. It was meant to work like DOS, but allowing pre-emptive multitasking, and being more robust.

What does robust mean? It means that small glitches don’t cause the loss of hours of work. It means that the operating system works as you expect it to, all the time.

The graphical interface, that people who try Linux today see, is really a cover up of what is going on under the many colors. There are three main window managers that people see today. The most often seen, since Ubuntu is now the most popular distribution, is called Gnome. It is younger than Linux itself, just as Windows 3.11 was younger than DOS. The other very popular window manager is called KDE, which is more ‘glitzy’ than Gnome, and is seen on OpenSuSE and Mandriva distributions. The third is a very lightweight window manager - think Windows 3.0 - called Xfce, and works well on machines with slower processors or less capable graphics cards.

The thing to remember is that each of these are tools to manipulate what is underneath. They look pretty, and make usage less intimidating for those who never used a command line, but each is different, and each is less precise and powerful than using the keyboard with the proper commands.

Those who know Unix syntax, or DOS syntax are nodding right now, as they are aware of the precision available when using the command line. Power users of Windows know some of this, or know enough to look things up when needed, as there are, in Windows, some things that still cannot be done without hitting some keys.

The thing about Linux that no one seems to wish to speak is the fact that Linux, will for the foreseeable future, be more precisely controlled by typed commands.

Only the most commonly used commands will be available in the graphical system of any of the window managers. If the user wants to do anything outside of that will have to resort to command line usage.

Remember the last time you gave up on using Linux? It had something to do with installing a driver or doing something else that required your fingers to do more than wiggle the rodent, did it not?

Since many people who work in Windows have done so for a period of time, the command line might be slightly familiar. For these, and also those totally unfamiliar with using keys to enter anything but data, using a helper application will be useful.

Downloading Powershell, from the Microsoft site, will be a start. Getting used to batch commands will be a good start for limbering the fingers and the mind. It’s free, and will help you learn that the keyboard can do more than the mouse.

Another idea for those wishing to graduate from Powershell, or already familiar with command line exercises from DOS days, is a utility from JPSoft, called 4NT. 4NT is a command line processor that takes the place of command.cmd in your system. The abilities of this product are unequalled in any other add-on for the Win32 operating systems.

Once familiar with the workings of 4NT, and the advanced command line processing that can be done, moving to the command line of any Linux distribution will be much easier to grasp, and the syntax changes will be easily overcome because keyboarding has become second nature.

On the other hand, once you see what is available with 4NT, you just might think XP + 4NT will take care of all of your needs for the next few years! 

Tags: microsoft, windows, command line usage, powershell, jpsoft, 4nt, take command, linux, window managers, batch file processor