Follow Techotopia on Twitter

On-line Guides
All Guides
eBook Store
iOS / Android
Linux for Beginners
Office Productivity
Linux Installation
Linux Security
Linux Utilities
Linux Virtualization
Linux Kernel
System/Network Admin
Programming
Scripting Languages
Development Tools
Web Development
GUI Toolkits/Desktop
Databases
Mail Systems
openSolaris
Eclipse Documentation
Techotopia.com
Virtuatopia.com
Answertopia.com

How To Guides
Virtualization
General System Admin
Linux Security
Linux Filesystems
Web Servers
Graphics & Desktop
PC Hardware
Windows
Problem Solutions
Privacy Policy

  




 

 

The Art of Unix Programming
Prev Home Next


Unix Programming - The Elements of Operating-System Style - Preferred User Interface Style

Preferred User Interface Style

In Chapter11 we will develop in some detail the consequences of the differences between command-line interfaces (CLIs) and graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Which kind an operating system's designers choose as its normal mode of presentation will affect many aspects of the design, from process scheduling and memory management on up to the application programming interfaces (APIs) presented for applications to use.

It has been enough years since the first Macintosh that very few people need to be convinced that weak GUI facilities in an operating system are a problem. The Unix lesson is the opposite: that weak CLI facilities are a less obvious but equally severe deficit.

If the CLI facilities of an operating system are weak or nonexistent, you'll also see the following consequences:

  • Programs will not be designed to cooperate with each other in unexpected ways — because they can't be. Outputs aren't usable as inputs.

  • Remote system administration will be sparsely supported, more difficult to use, and more network-intensive.[23]

  • Even simple noninteractive programs will incur the overhead of a GUI or elaborate scripting interface.

  • Servers, daemons, and background processes will probably be impossible or at least rather difficult, to program in any graceful way.

To design the perfect anti-Unix, have no CLI and no capability to script programs — or, important facilities that the CLI cannot drive.


[an error occurred while processing this directive]
The Art of Unix Programming
Prev Home Next

 
 
  Published under free license. Design by Interspire