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In the Beginning Was the Command Line (1999)

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412 points conanxin | 8 comments | 27 Jul 24 06:25 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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mxwsn ◴[27 Jul 24 07:02 UTC] No.41084928[source]▶
This essay by Neal Stephenson was first published in 1999. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Beginning..._Was_the_...

The analogy of OS as cars (Windows is a station wagon, Linux is a tank) is brought up in the recent Acquired episode on Microsoft, where Vista was a Dodge Viper but Windows 7 was a Toyota Camry, which is what users actually wanted.

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GrumpyYoungMan ◴[27 Jul 24 11:46 UTC] No.41085934[source]▶
And Neal Stephenson acknowledged it was obsolete in 2004:

"I embraced OS X as soon as it was available and have never looked back. So a lot of 'In the beginning was the command line' is now obsolete. I keep meaning to update it, but if I'm honest with myself, I have to say this is unlikely."

https://slashdot.org/story/04/10/20/1518217/neal-stephenson-...

But people still dredge this quarter century old apocrypha up and use it to pat themselves on the back for being Linux users. "I use a Hole Hawg! I drive a tank! I'm not like those other fellows because I'm a real hacker!"

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llm_trw ◴[27 Jul 24 15:04 UTC] No.41087044[source]▶
Given what OS X has become it's un-obsoleted itself again.

It's kind of ironic that you're using a post from 20 years ago to invalidate an essay from 25 years ago, about an OS that's been substantially dumbed down in the last 10 years.

Bad corporate blood will tell.

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1. samatman ◴[27 Jul 24 15:17 UTC] No.41087121[source]▶
I also "embraced OS X as soon as it was available". My first Linux install was Yggdrasil, but I cut my teeth on SPARC stations. I respected two kinds of computer: Unix workstations, and the Macintosh.

So when Apple started making workstations, I got one. I've been a satisfied customer ever since.

I have no idea whatsoever what dumbing down you're referring to. The way I use macOS has barely changed in the last ten years. In fact, that's a major part of the appeal.

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2. gizajob ◴[28 Jul 24 14:56 UTC] No.41093590[source]▶
Seconded. Make it 20 years.
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3. aj7 ◴[28 Jul 24 16:28 UTC] No.41094202[source]▶
Just got a Windows 11 machine. Had to, to run Solidworks. Have it next to a new M3 iMac. They’re all configured with the same apps. Despite not having used Windows in 10 years, these machines behave identically. But Windows 11 is snappier. And you can actually find things that you don’t know where they are!

I was amazed.

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4. gizajob ◴[28 Jul 24 18:43 UTC] No.41095073{3}[source]▶
I’m not knocking windows for me I’m just kind of hooked on the Mac trackpad and a few little things about the Mac that I prefer now. I use a networked Windows machine semi regularly and there’s nothing wrong with it. I just remember the days of BSOD and viruses and random shutdowns to install updates that couldn’t be stopped in the middle of the workday and 1000 other little niggles that makes me choose a Mac. I’m sure contemporary windows machines if configured right are totally fine, better even - my housemate keeps touching to scroll on my Mac screen because she has a windows laptop that comes with a touchscreen and I can see how that would be handy on the Mac.
5. seec ◴[30 Jul 24 10:26 UTC] No.41107718{3}[source]▶
With all the ideological hate against Microsoft/Windows (even among its long-term users it seems) everybody seems to miss the part where Windows 11 is actually pretty good and I would say in some ways actually superior to macOS nowadays, especially with PowerToys.

For starter, it is much less annoying from a security/notification standpoint, you can tell it to fuck off and let you do your things if you know what you are doing.

macOS isn't too bad yet but is clearly lagging behind, Apple is unwillingly to meaningfully improve some parts and seems to refuse to sherlock some apps because it clearly goes against their business interests. They make more money earning the commission on additional software sales from the App Store, a clear conflict of interest. They got complacent just like Valve with all the money from running it's marketplace.

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6. CRConrad ◴[01 Aug 24 12:51 UTC] No.41128616{4}[source]▶
> For starter, it is much less annoying from a security/notification standpoint, you can tell it to fuck off and let you do your things if you know what you are doing.

In many corporate environments you can't.

7. aj7 ◴[01 Aug 24 13:00 UTC] No.41128665{4}[source]▶
macOS is behind. And this is speaking as someone who probably owns one of everything Apple makes, Apple stock, and was exclusively Mac for the last 10 years.

I have less than 50 hours use on my Windows 11 machine, a midgrade Lenovo P358 rig I bought renewed because it had plenty of memory and an Nvidia T1000 card. Yet it taught me that the test of an operating system is how quickly you can navigate around, and how well it can find things, given only clues. Windows 11 is just snapper, quicker, than the latest macOS running on a new M3 Mac.

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8. seec ◴[02 Aug 24 18:15 UTC] No.41141179{5}[source]▶
This is also my experience. Worse, it is snappier on a 10 yo computer (top of the line though) than on an expensive 24GB M2 MacBook Pro.

There is some software that I find nice and convenient in macOS but it has gotten really hard to justify the price of the hardware considering the downsides.