Which distro has the best command line interface ?

lostboy · 03-20-2003, 08:30 PM

I am a newbie, but after installing Suse 8.1, then Mandrake 9, then Redhat 8, I have discovered that I much preffer the command line interface in Suse the best.

I also like the way that in Suse you can <ctrl + F1,F2,etc> and not get kicked out of your KDE session. I'm not sure why, but Redhat 8 did that. When I would go to a bash prompt, after about 30 seconds or so it would kick me out of KDE and make me log back in. I don't know enough about Linux to know if that is normal. In Suse I could have 3 or 4 active command prompts, and I could just <ctrl + F7> and KDE was still running.

Anyway, I like navigating in Suse the best out of those three mentioned. I'll be re-installing after this post.

JC

DavidPhillips · 03-20-2003, 08:32 PM

they are all the same

bash

there are other shells available, but most people will be happy using bash

All distros I've seen have been able to do what you are describing. Maybe something is not configured correctly

lostboy · 03-20-2003, 08:51 PM

Redhat and Mandrake did act the same in a bash shell, but there are a few things in particular that I liked about Suse. For instance, when you type <dir> the directory lists vertically (reminds me of dos). And I like the color of the directories in Suse (blue I believe). For whatever reason, I felt more comfortable.

I don't know enough about Linux to have a strong opinion, but as a new guy I seem to like Suse. Now I'm glad that I bought it, even though I'm having some problems.

JC

Crashed_Again · 03-20-2003, 09:03 PM

Quote:

For instance, when you type <dir> the directory lists vertically (reminds me of dos).

You can setup any bash shell to work this way using aliases.

lostboy · 03-20-2003, 09:15 PM

Aliases ? Yes, I have much to learn about Linux. My vocabulary of bash commands is not very extensive.

JC

fsbooks · 03-20-2003, 09:30 PM

Quote:

You can setup any bash shell to work this way using aliases.

Correct. Suse tends to set up a lot more aliases by default (/etc/bash.bashrc; /etc/profile.d/complete.bash ... at least on the 7.3 PPC version I use at times). Redhat leaves a less configured bash to start. But all is configurable. Browse "man bash" sometime. There is an awfully lot to it; I'ld say "read it" by there is no way any sane person can absorb it all at once.

Perhaps a more pertinent question is which distribution provides a system setup more logical and easier to administer at the CLI as opposed to GUI tools. Redhat is OK but some of their scripts are a bit obtuse trying to account for all situations (and not), but then again my system started and has been upgraded from a 5.2 version (7.3 now). Suse seems less intuitive to me in some ways, but it could be just that I am less familiar with it. I'm guessing slackware is probably the easiest in this way, though I have never touched the keyboard of a slackware system (sad to say).

aherm · 03-20-2003, 10:12 PM

I love SuSE better for CLI settings such as ex-DOS-friendly aliases, nice font with color codes, keyboard shortcuts just work, GPM/mouse set, pretty schema ...

But I love the GUI settings too ;-)
Animated bootsplash, nice graphical login, beautiful KDE theme, beautiful Control Center (YaST2) ...

DavidPhillips · 03-20-2003, 10:29 PM

Point taken...

You love SUSE!

maxspeed · 03-21-2003, 02:49 AM

redhat 8 is best heh

DavidPhillips · 03-21-2003, 06:49 AM

not for me, I use RedHat 7.3

Artimus · 03-21-2003, 07:04 AM

It really doesn't matter. Its all bash... Stay with SuSE if you like it.

yngwin · 03-22-2003, 07:34 AM

If you love SuSE, stick with it. I myself love Gentoo, religiously!