Terminal-Only Challenge

tcoffeep · 2009-08-15 17:38:14

Hi, all! I'm currently trying to challenge myself by refusing to use any Desktop Environment, or graphical programs of any kind. This is sort of an endurance test, but I am way behind in the ways of terminal kung-fu. Any tips, program suggestions, and whatnot, for me to actually succeed without giving up?

Current programs to use :

Vim : Text Editing
Ruby : Coding
Finch : IM
Lynx/Links/W3M : Browsing ((( I'm not sure which one to use )))

Thanks.
BDKL

Last edited by tcoffeep (2009-08-15 17:43:03)

Wintervenom · 2009-08-15 17:50:12

Viper, an NCURSES window manager.

Last edited by Wintervenom (2009-08-15 17:52:39)

Hrod beraht · 2009-08-15 17:52:13

tcoffeep wrote:

Any tips, program suggestions, and whatnot, for me to actually succeed without giving up?

Going completely window-manager free might not be the best solution, because starting/running a command-line or curses program from within a terminal isn't really any different from starting a GUI program from within a terminal and won't go too far at making you a terminal expert.
If you want to get better at using the terminal, I'd start off by uninstalling your file manager. Do all of that stuff in a terminal and you're skills will increase pretty quickly, even while your running a minimal wm like Ratpoison, Evilwm, dwm.

Bob

Last edited by Hrod beraht (2009-08-15 18:03:43)

tcoffeep · 2009-08-15 18:03:25

Oh, I just cleaned out my Windows XP partition, and am doing this challenge w/ a fresh distro. I'm doing this because, no matter how much time I spent in the terminal via gentoo or arch, I always ended up relying on a quick gui when I got tired of it. I learnt a lot of tricks in the short time, though, so I figure, if I'm going "whole-hog" as you put it, I should learn a lot more.
Hell, I felt more comfortable in windows, managing everything through the command prompt then by using its file manager, lol. I just figure this is the next step.

SpeedVin · 2009-08-15 18:24:29

tcoffeep wrote:

Hi, all! I'm currently trying to challenge myself by refusing to use any Desktop Environment, or graphical programs of any kind. This is sort of an endurance test, but I am way behind in the ways of terminal kung-fu. Any tips, program suggestions, and whatnot, for me to actually succeed without giving up?
Current programs to use :
Vim : Text Editing
Ruby : Coding
Finch : IM
Lynx/Links/W3M : Browsing ((( I'm not sure which one to use )))
Thanks.
BDKL

I think you can use Uzbl as browser and DmemFM as your File Manager.
Why UZBL becouse can use js and none of them cannot

Ranguvar · 2009-08-15 18:24:52

eLinks is great as a web browser. links-g is framebuffer, guess that wouldn't work?

You'll also be needing GNU Screen, or an alternative.

evol · 2009-08-15 19:15:56

GNU Screen is a must
ELinks with FBV is great for viewing individual images on websites (get used to Ctrl+L)
With mplayer you can watch video & with Clive you can retrieve youtubes
I like mocp for listening to music
Alpine is good for checking emails
asciiquarium/cmatrix for eye candy

Profjim · 2009-08-15 19:28:43

I second elinks. It also does handle (some) javascript in webpages, and the UI is highly configurable. UI can be scripted with lua or javascript, also some other languages (python yes, perl? ruby? in any case the lua support is most complete).

The package extra/fbida lets you view images and pdfs in the framebuffer. So you can't display images in-page with elinks, like you can with links-g or w3m, but you can configure those helpers so that hitting enter on an image/pdf tag pops up the image/pdf.

And yes, learn how to use screen. Though I got by for a while with just ~10 VTs, and no screen.

alterecco · 2009-08-16 00:32:00

As an alternative to screen, you could look at tmux. Either way, a multiplexer is a must.

Elinks for browsing, mpd + ncmpcpp for music. Weechat is awesome if you need irc.

Other than that, just keep at it. When faced with a repetitive task, take the extra time to learn how to automate it through your shell bash and piping. Then write a script or a oneliner and stow it away for reference the next time. Bit by bit you will find stuff that would have required installation of extra software on Windows, to be easily achievable on the shell (and more flexible).

.]

scj · 2009-08-16 00:40:07

Personally, I don't really see the point in this kind of asceticism, or at least the arbitrary nature of the rules. You can practise shell scripting in a graphical environment just as well.

skottish · 2009-08-16 04:29:27

Almost no one ever brings up sdcv. That I'll never understand. It is so much nicer to use than it's GUI counterpart. And, if one launches it with rlwrap, they get history too.

*** For those of you too lazy to search, it's StarDict the command-line version. ***

tomd123 · 2009-08-16 11:54:03

tcoffeep wrote:

Hi, all! I'm currently trying to challenge myself by refusing to use any Desktop Environment, or graphical programs of any kind. This is sort of an endurance test, but I am way behind in the ways of terminal kung-fu. Any tips, program suggestions, and whatnot, for me to actually succeed without giving up?
Current programs to use :
Vim : Text Editing
Ruby : Coding
Finch : IM
Lynx/Links/W3M : Browsing ((( I'm not sure which one to use )))
Thanks.
BDKL

Here's a tip: just because you're in the terminal all the time doesn't make you an expert in 'terminal kung-fu'. How about sticking to X but instead writing a program in complete bash or ruby that you have never done before. That will teach you more about the terminal than finch and links will ever teach you.

Last edited by tomd123 (2009-08-16 11:54:42)

tcoffeep · 2009-08-16 14:19:46

It's not solely about the terminal knowledge, though. I am easily distracted, and I figure with no windows, no pictures, no graphics, I will be able to focus on my studies better. I mean, I haven't played a game that was released after year 2002, although my secondary comp can handle them. I just need to ween my reliance on GUI's. With no X, I have no choice but to use terminal commands. With no X, I'm less tempted to copy-paste code from projects when I'm coding ( and when I come across problems like I am right now, it's really tempting D: ).
It's a challenge, as well, and I enjoy challenges. X-free will be hard, and it will be frustrating at times, but I feel like I will only benefit from this.

Thanks for all your help guys. I'm currently playing with screen. Getting a feel for it.

@Profjim :

Lua, Perl, and Ruby for Elinks. I didn't see Python, but I could be wrong.

Sakurina · 2009-08-16 16:51:29

I do most of my stuff in the terminal; I like not needing to use the mouse to do anything, and it ends up being really handy when X suddenly decides to pretend my keyboard doesn't exist like it decided to do yesterday.

I use tmux with 7 windows open:
- term: zsh
- mail: alpine
- aim: pork
- irc: irssi
- dev: zsh + vim
- music: mocp
- torrents: unworkable

When I have to do web browsing, I crank out links.

Profjim · 2009-08-16 17:38:40

tcoffeep wrote:

@Profjim :
Lua, Perl, and Ruby for Elinks. I didn't see Python, but I could be wrong.

Python support is there, though it may only be in the git version. I can supply a PKGBUILD for elinks-git if you need it. But the python support is by the elinks team's own description "buggy and incomplete." To get the Javascript client-side scripting, you have to have SpiderMonkey installed (there's experimental support for another JS engine, but that's also claimed to be very iffy at this point). This too might only be available in the git version, I've lost track...

anubis2591 · 2009-08-18 02:58:36

I actually did this exact thing last summer. It lasted for a good two months at least (I needed flash for music discovery and I missed pretty images). I used:

Terminal Manager: screen
Text Editor: vim
Music Player: mocp
Web Browser: w3m
IM: Finch
Torrents: rtorrent

And I used a few other programs but those were the important ones. Now I would switch mocp with mpd + ncmpc and w3m with elinks. I'd also like to suggest for you to check out K. Mandla's blog as it is invaluable for terminal applications and minimal linux computing in general. His software page should be a great resource for you.

Edit: Forgot to mention vitetris for games (nothing to do with vi but everything to do with tetris). It's in the AUR and I'd highly recommend it.

Last edited by anubis2591 (2009-08-18 03:08:33)

LookTJ · 2009-08-20 07:55:13

I prefer Screen alongside dvtm.

Browser: eLinks
Torrents: rtorrent
IM: (if you prefer)finch
IRC: irssi
Media: mplayer

Hmm what else.

Last edited by LookTJ (2009-08-20 07:58:20)

Profjim · 2009-08-20 12:51:42

LookTJ wrote:

I prefer Screen alongside dvtm.
Hmm what else.

mail: mutt
newsfeeds: newsbeuter

tomd123 · 2009-08-20 13:13:17

Well here is my suggestions then:

Terminal Manager: screen
Mail: mutt
Editor: vim
Browser: eLinks
Torrents: rtorrent
IRC: irssi
Media: mocp
Font: profont size 11
also get youself some nice colors.

Arm-the-Homeless · 2009-08-20 14:17:09

I think it's harder for a GUI-only challenge.

bruce · 2009-08-21 04:51:54

+1 for dvtm, looks like a good bit of kit for multitasking etc...

dunc · 2009-08-21 11:54:06

In case anyone's interested, the guys at the TuxRadar podcast (Linux Format magazine ; no, I don't know why they don't use the same name either) are doing a commandline only challenge over the next two weeks. Their conclusions - and presumably some hints and tips - will be in the 2nd September episode, assuming they can all stick it out for that long (my money's on Mike Saunders being the only one to go the distance; hell, he wrote his own OS, in assembler...).

cardinals_fan · 2009-08-22 00:49:27

The most powerful console web browser is elinks. Period.

You should look at dvtm for "window" management, calcurse for scheduling, alpine for email, mpd + ncmpcpp for music, vifm for file management, and many more.

madalu · 2009-08-22 20:06:09

Perhaps it works for some people, but I have not found that artificial
console-only exercizes minimize distractions. If anything, trying to
do everything in the console only increases distractions, because
there are an endless number of config files to tinker with. The same
applies to Emacs tinkering --- to which I must plead guilty. In my
opinion, the folks who learn coding and shell commands fastest are the
ones who don't care about their environment and just sit down and do
their work. Of course, it's a huge amount of *fun* to take on this
type of project, but a time-saver it is not.

Last edited by madalu (2009-08-22 20:07:37)

droog · 2009-08-22 20:39:06

Like everyone else said, screen is a must, dvtm is really nice if your used to dwm and there are a couple lists of console programs in the forums here.

What makes a huge difference if you're going to use this for awhile is to not use a terminal file manager
and set up nice colors and font. I use the colors from phraktures blog here

Arch Linux

#1 2009-08-15 17:38:14

Terminal-Only Challenge

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