I install MinGW on Microsoft Windows so that i CAN!!! use a real terminal on that Operating System !!!

about half of the software i use daily is text based ( NO GUI)

but you do not need to do everything typing

KDE and Gnome3 and xfce and lxde are all Desktop GUI's ( point and click - just like the garbage called "MS Windows" )

I'm not sure what you're complaining about honestly.

Mint certainly provides a way of changing the hostname from the GUI. You didn't use it, you chose to use the command line, and then came here to complain about how you had to use the command line? What is your actual complaint here? That whatever guide you followed gave you CLI instructions instead of GUI instructions? Take that up with the author, not Linux.

Windows guides often do the exact same thing. Half the time I have a problem with Windows, the solution requires firing up its horrible command prompt and entering commands with bizarre names and syntax. It doesn't mean there isn't a way to do it via the GUI instead, just that explaining the path to get there is MUCH more complicated than giving a one-line command you can type into a terminal, so that's the path most guides/suggestions take. Since there is no "standard" GUI across all makes/models of Linux, that problem is even larger, so the changes of getting CLI suggestions is even higher. That doesn't mean there isn't a GUI solution, just that you can't ask the broad Linux community for it, you need to ask somebody who knows the ins and outs of your particular GUI.

1 members found this post helpful.

Speak for yourself. I'm not afraid to use the terminal. In fact, the terminal or shell is what drew me to linux. I love shell scripting because you can create your own custom scripts to do a task where a GUI app isn't available.

The same could be said for any other operating system. For example, when I ventured into freeBSD and solaris, I had to learn a few new things that were different from linux.

WOW!!!
You guys are phenomenal.
Thank you all for your advice.

Let me just make one thing clear.
Well, two actually.
I am nearly 80 years old and I [B][I]DO[I][B] want to learn how to use the terminal.
Let me rephrase that.
I AM GOING TO LEARN HOW TO USE THE TERMINAL
It is just so confusing, I get completely discombobulated.

Having said that.
I followed the advice of a link that someone suggested and all hell broke loose.

OK,come to an abrupt halt is more like it.
The writing on the terminal turned red and everything else stopped working.
I couldn't even log out or shut the system down.
It stayed like that all night and this morning all is as it was.

I do not really have an issue with my weird hostname.
Someone in the newbies section questioned it and that was how the whole saga began.
So for now I am going to leave it as it is and concentrate on more important issues

Thank you guys and guy-esses for all your comments and support.
It is greatly appreciated at this end and reinforces my faith in the Linux community and my determination to overcome.


______________________________________________
I shall prevail even if it kills me.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hartman, for every question asked there's different possible answers. that is the way of linux.
asking these questions on this particular forum (one of the oldest linux forums), you are likely to get answers from folks quite similar to you (age-wise), except they've been hacking away at computers most of their lives.
they give the sort of answer they are comfortable with (not you).

your first stop should always be your distro's forum and wiki.
in the case of linux mint, your second stop should be ubuntu forums and wiki, because mint is mostly ubuntu (but beware, some mods will move you to the "other os" section or even give you a bashing).
both places are much more likely to provide you with gui solutions.
and don't worry, you'll still have plenty of opportunity to use the command line. i suggest doing playful things first, instead of scraping at the foundations.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi

Believe it or not, your last post is most enlightening as it explains why you thought you needed to change your hostname.

Personally I am a big fan of simple short words....less typing if I need to use a terminal.

If you do decide to learn more in the terminal I highly recommend you install or check you have a package already installed called

https://community.linuxmint.com/soft...ash-completion

Lets pretend you have installed youtube-dl and know the url of a youtube movie
for me

lesson 2 on bash-completion
Try going to /usr/bin with your gui file manager and look at commands that start similar
eg get something
I am not suggesting you need to learn these commands but you can see it helps you because if your desired command was
getf

there is only one entry so it will autocomplete but if there are multiples
say getc you will get a new list of getcap getconf

good luck

1 members found this post helpful.

Hatman KZN,

So why (leaving out two additional words), did you make such a song and dance about it earlier and asked for help on changing it?

Putting that aside, I am pleased to hear that:

Good luck.

1 members found this post helpful.

I asked them for an example. See post #2. My way of organizing vs making it all nonspecific.

Sorry, didn't mean to focus it all on that.

As has been said, much depends on your choice of distro. I use the terminal infrequently as I can do nearly everything I need to do from the GUI. Many Linux gurus worship the CLI and think everyone should be like they are. I see the computer as a tool that I can use to do what I want to do with it. I run MX-15 and it does all I need an OS to do and it has useful tools and utilities to make the process smooth. I learned a little about the command line and it's all I needed...

2 members found this post helpful.

Affirmations are the way to go!

Just remember, it doesn't come overnight, and likely not in a single "aha!" moment.
Experience is just a series of learned mistakes.

2 members found this post helpful.

NGIB,

How refreshing to hear the view that a computer should be considered as a tool to enable work to be done and treated in the same way as an electric drill, a lawnmower or a torque wrench.

Which tool the user initially selects and how the user chooses to employ that tool is up to him or her.


In the same vein, I am rather tired of hearing that:

1. Windows (or Apple) systems are "better" than Linux, or the reverse.

2. Intel CPUs are "better" than AMD, or the reverse.

3. Linux distro A is "better" than Linux distros B, C, D etc.

4. The Command Line is the "better" (or only) way to run a computer.


@ Habitual

An excellent point. I could not agree more.

1 members found this post helpful.

@Hatman

I believe the PDF from this site is a great introduction to command line, easy to read, too.

1 members found this post helpful.

Emerson,

You are absolutely right.

It is very well written and easy to follow.

1 members found this post helpful.

You kids get off my lawn!

Its a fair enough request. Linux is full of choices.

OpenSUSE with its YAST tools is top notch if you're looking to do administration only with the GUI.


And I aint afraid of no terminal. Its become my preferred way to do most things except browse web or instant message. If and when I get accustomed to doing those on the cli I'll probably switch to that too.