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Can You Use Linux Without the Terminal? (How to Geek article)
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this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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So many comments here saying you don't need the terminal for full functionality.... What Distro are you people using??? How do you install programs not in the "software center" and how do you edit config files? How do you configure a network share? I don't really think you guys are thinking this through.
For any use-cases beyond a very limited chromebook-like functionality, Linux is absolutely not fully usable without access to the terminal.
Well if i double-click a file I've made executable, it will ask if I'd like to run it, and most software will have a github or downloads page that will give you direct downloads to the software.
In other words, I can successfully install things like a windows user, I just have to go the extra step to open the file's properties and make it executable with the GUI first.
Apt is faster, and it's also faster to do a direct download, make it executable, then execute it in the terminal, too. But I CAN do it.
Config files can be edited in the GUI text editor, it's just slower.
To test my claim and prove your third point, this link is the repository for a samba GUI, found at https://www.samba.org/samba/GUI/. Specifically, it's SMB4K, the first one.
Convenient? No. Would it update automatically? No. Do I want to do it this way, or recommend it? Still no. But it does function.
Some programs can be installed this way, but it's extremely far from universal.
Not without opening them as root, which in every distro I know of, requires the terminal.
The install directions for that program involve the terminal.
In mint I can right click in a folder and reopen the folder with elevated privileges. That's my primary, I assumed it was standard but if it's not common I guess it's a cinnamon thing. If so, maybe cinnamon is the desktop of choice for avoiding the terminal.
I didn't do my full diligence to the samba GUI thing, apparently. That's a good catch.
To salvage my argument, yumex has a GUI and extends yum, so while the instructions expect the terminal, I think it'll be optional.
I still recommend it to nobody, but someone who set out to avoid the terminal doesn't have to fail.
yumex, pip-gui, and aptitude give yum, pip, and apt GUI's, respectively, so most anything that expected the terminal should be doable without it. All it costs is a bunch of effort troubleshooting GUI things or finding out one doesn't display error messages and logs them weirdly or whatever.
Pretty sure you can configure "open as root" in some file managers. Also you can configure a gksudo (or similar) setup.
Really though, that makes me think. The file manager should detect you're opening something you don't have write access to and ask if you want to authenticate as root to open it.
There are apps that can do it, but require the terminal to install.
Also in every distro I've tried, config files will open read-only, not with the authentication pop-up.
Just double clicking on /etc/fstab opens it in the editor, I can write whatever I want and when I want to save it asks for authentication.
Anyways, what exactly do you think is the average user that can and should play around in system config files and can't use the terminal at the same time?
I spend a lot of time arguing against Manjaro. That said, Manjaro comes with a GUI package manager that provides access to the AUR.
What software are you using that is not available in the Manjaro repos or AUR? My guess is that the majority of people would never need to install anything more.
I think it is actually quite likely that most people never need more than what is in the Ubuntu repos. However, I am not as confident to stand behind that claim.
The article uses Linux Mint
Right, and they only demonstrated limited functionality.
That limited functionality may be all the user ever need
Network share from the file manager does not seem such a stretch:
https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/nautilus-connect.html.en
Any modern distro.
There are GUI methods for adding repositories to every major software center to my knowledge, and it isn't very hard.
Kate, and other modern file editors are more than equipped to handle some config files, that's probably the simplest thing ever.
There are multiple GUI front ends for samba.
Don't comment on the usability of Linux GUI if you haven't even tried in the last 20 years like seriously
I don't suppose you could give the name of a distro that achieves full functionality purely in the GUI?
The normal people doesn't install software external to the store or configure the system a lot, in IOS you can't do this things and everyone is fine. For share network in gnome you can do it with a button in the WiFi settings
Thats just not true.. there are many very popular applications that are not in package managers
If snap or flathub repos are in the store, any mainstream application be in. In the other side, if you don't know what are you doing and install random packages, the most probably is that you'll broke your system