Re: More newbie queries: paths
Re: More newbie queries: paths
- Subject: Re: More newbie queries: paths
- From: Michael Kelly <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 05 May 2002 21:11:53 -0700
On 5/4/02 7:34 AM, Malcolm Fitzgerald <email@hidden> wrote:
>
My difficulty does not lie in the fact that unix can do anything, but
>
that it does it by using one (apparently random) of the umpteen
>
bucket loads of programs that accompany it. Or via one of the
>
switches of one of those programs. None of which are known (to me)
>
nor, may I stress, do they display cute icons by which we can know
>
them!
>
>
Apple once showed us the way past DOS, we now wait for them to learn
>
their own way past unix. It's all so MCMLXXI, bring on OS MMII!
It may not be a popular position, but I feel compelled to defend Unix, and
Apple's use of it in OS X.
There's one big difference between DOS and Unix: Unix is bleeping powerful,
DOS is not. Both involve a command line, and both are sometimes friggin'
difficult to get the hang of. What makes it all worthwhile is that once you
DO get the hang of it, comparing a Unix box to any other box is like
comparing an aircraft carrier to an inner tube. The inner tube may be easier
to splash about in, but it's nowhere near as powerful when you need to
rename 2,000 files at once or parse a server log.
Unix has all the tools that users of other operating systems pay hundreds of
dollars for, free, straight out of the box. Examples: vi/emacs, cc/gcc,
sed/awk/perl.
Every day I use my OS 9-running Mac, I find myself wishing for the handy
tools that Unix offers. I, for one, am overjoyed that OS X has married Unix
with Mac-y goodness. I love my Mac, but I also love power and efficiency.
As to the notion that Unix is hard to learn: Getting used to the command
line, and the general Unix way of doing things is, the rest is not. To be
honest, there's as much or more consistency in the standard suite of Unix
apps as there is on the Macintosh.
I don't quite understand the anti-Unix sentimentality that is present in so
many Macintosh circles. When I started learning Unix (before which I knew
only the graphical world of the Macintosh), I had an absolute ball. Suddenly
everything was free, everything was powerful, everything _worked_, and if
you couldn't find what you wanted you built it yourself. Unix is a Good
Thing, and it is your friend.
Disclaimer: That was just my opinion, and was not indented to offend,
disgruntle, enrage, or otherwise induce unhappiness.
Sorry if that was a bit long,
--
Michael
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