To Susan and Karen:
Good idea I think.
[...]
More as a tourist. Usually like to have the natives pummel together the
canoe together for me. Then I lift my petticoats and get in. Yet I can
look brave when riding, so give me points there.
I too do that. Flattered of course, but I do not consider my self a
commandline geek, just another tourist. I let others handle inventing
the wheel, more fond of cycling my self - or traveling in general, by
any means available, made by the natives or not, as long as it will
take me there without too much effort. Of course sometimes I find
walking uphill rewarding, just for the pleasure of getting there and
having done it. But most the time I'd stick to flat open country,
where distance is measured in clicks or double clicks
My own language is pretty inconsistent/ sloppy. Just, one thing, it's
that in NT world, the pendants are inclined to hand out citations when
we say DOS. So, what wording to use on the webpage? I venture you'd want
what's most widely understood, if it's a choice between that and technical
accuracy. I don't know if anyone will followup here, but I wouldn't mind
seeing some opinion on language use here, whether for the webpage entry,
or even general.
IMO: CLI for Command Line Interface is more correct in that it covers
both DOS (command.com) and CMD (cmd.exe). Thus a more general, less
precise term. If a page indicates this app is CLI, then it is saying
nothing about which OS version it will run under. Whereas if the page
says DOS or CMD, different people will assume different things. CLI is
also more future oriented, it will stay current no matter what new
command processor people use, the interface is what matters, as in CLI
not GUI. CLI as a keyword also clearly leaves it up to the user to
read the programs description/web to figure out if the app in question
will run under their particular OS, whereas DOS and CMD can as said be
misunderstood to indicate platform.
And alternative could be to use both with a slash, DOS/CMD or CMD/DOS,
but then you risk a similar kind of misunderstanding, someone will
think it means the app is made to run on both platforms (and blame you
if it doesn't <g>)
I understand your "CLI concern" though, but having thought about it
I'd have to say, those that do not yet know what it stands for will
have to learn what it means and get used to it. One way to look at it
is to say that CLI as a keyword is there first and foremost for anyone
searching for a CLI app - AND for those wanting to avoid CLI apps at
all costs. Both of those groups will have strong incentives to stay
informed about commonly used abbreviations, if they don't already
know. Those in the latter group, the avoiders, that does not yet
know, will be the fastest learners - I assure you
. The third group,
the indifferent ones, will either know what it means or doesn't care.
And option could be, as more such abbreviation gets added, like n.r
and CLI (or what ever you choose), to make a "commonly used
abbreviations" page, with a reasonably visible link on each page - for
anyone in need to look up.
Might need it my self one day when reading Susan's pages, at least
judging by her Usenet messages, fx shorthand abbreviations such as ATM
and ISTM makes _me_ stop and think.
They are usually obvious from
the context, once you stop and think. I'm sure they are common, and
that I will get used to them, and even use them my self. But the thing
is - here it this group, where real people hide behind the strangest
names/handles - I must stop an think anyway, is she talking to a user
named "ATM" or "ISTM" now? Not to worry Susan, I just read your
statement about you having to "stop and think hard to remember what
CLI stands for" as an invitation.
I'm not asking you to stop using
ATM or ISTM or similar, but simply that you add CLI to the list
PS: I prefer CLI my self, which I guess i obvious, but when arguing
for CLI here - I'm not arguing from personal preferences only, but
like to think "common sense". Me, I will understand what ever you use
anyway, CLI; DOS, CMD, X, Y, whatever - even ATM or ISTM
All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen
