[evan_au (OP)]

In the "bad old days" of DOS, you had to type in commands on a "Command Line Interface" (CLI). You had to remember the exact spelling of each commands (or type the HELP command to see what commands were available; as I recall, UNIX had a lot more commands, so you used the man or command manual to see them).

Then came along Graphical User Interfaces, with their Windows, Icons, Mice and Pull-down menus. Those who had mastered DOS described users of these computers by the acronym "WIMPs".

But today, there are so many pull-down menus, with context-sensitive contents, that I have trouble finding the command I need. In EXCEL, I have sometimes resorted to typing the name of the wanted command in the help box, which helpfully brings up a menu of commands that might be the one I am looking for. But if you can't remember the exact name of the command, you could spend a long time searching through help files to find the right function.

Are we returning to the command-line interface, where you type (or perhaps, now, say) the command you want?
 

[chris]

Are we returning to the command-line interface, where you type (or perhaps, now, say) the command you want?

I hope so; I am driven to distraction clicking through endless menu architectures trying to find a simple command to change something. Linux, a simple command and I'm done...

Windows and GUIs have their place, of course, but not for everthing; I don't think we'll see a written CLI though - I think it will be a voice CLI if anything. Alexa, for example...

[jeffreyH]

A lot of menu driven systems are written by developers with no empathy for end users. They also have little regard for sensible categorisation. A menu system would be better designed to be flexible and be modifiable by the user. It wouldn't be difficult to implement.

[mrsmith2211]

I forget if it was server 08 or 12 that initially was going to be powershell based, I wrote scripts for giving a menu before windows, then windows came along, who needs it at the time I thought.
Well I got used to it, got spoiled by the GUI, point and click, but things are getting more tedious, I mean some computers give the settings rather than control panel, and I am doing a lot more with dos prompt and powershell.
Not to say I am giving up the GUI for sql server manager etc., as I wear too many hats at this point to do it from sqlcmd, but I have on occasion done that.
Boss wants to go to thin clients, so into learning linix. A lot more typing in a black and white terminal window in my future

[chris]

Since I got into Linux (largely thanks to buying and testing a Raspberry Pi so I could meaningfully interview the inventors on the show) - I have not looked back; now I wonder how I coped over all those years beforehand and wish I'd learned the art of Linux, Python and PHP much sooner than I eventually did.

That said, it was easier for me than most because I'd bought one of the first BBC B computers off the production lines. It was the first time - age about 8 - that I'd come to Cambridge; we made the journey to pay £400 to Acorn Electronics and pick up the box that taught me BBC Basic, laid the foundations for being able to program, and turned me into a massive fan of Elite! (So, as you can imagine, becoming friends years later with David Braben, who co-wrote that game, was quite a moment for me!)

[Danne]

Hasn't it been that way ? I mean you can always decide what interface you use.. Linux of Windows. What changed ?