Why Different Commands ?

[Erik Christiansen]

On Thu, Jun 15, 2006 at 02:34:05PM +0530, Vilas Sukhadeve wrote:
> Here I would like to know why different commands have to be used in
> Terminal. e.g. sudo, apt-get, chmod, mkdir, #, I know only these
> commands so far. What these different commands stand for ? 


Hi Vilas,

Though the reason originates in the last century, when we greybeards
were young, it remains valid today. Unix was conceived as a kernel, a
command line, and a bunch of useful commands to run in this "shell". As
tool-using animals, it is simple for us to use a toolkit of elementary
implements, each optimised for either a single task, variations on that task,
or a small set of related tasks. Initially, the tool is used in its
simplest mode, but with use, simple ways to achieve complex actions
can be learnt.

Now, just to make sure it's not too simple, there's often more than one
tool that can achieve a desired result, usually in more than one way. A
diverse toolkit provides choice, often more than a novice desires.

If already corrupted by the dark side (GUIs), then you can think of each
command as a super menu item, immediately accessible to you, without
three levels of menu standing in your way. The arguments and options
that you give to the command allow direct management of the command's
behaviour, without being subjected to the rat-run of submenus which hide
things in a GUI.

The power of such direct control is mastered by the pleasurable
activities of reading and experimenting. You might like to try:
man sudo
info sudo   # Sometimes there is something other than a manpage in info.

And remember, "Google is your friend". The answers to so many questions
are already out there, including "What these different commands stand
for ?"

May you enjoy the journey.

Erik

P.S. It has no end. :-)