Graphical user interfaces are super friendly to computer users. They were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs).
However, they often require more resources, are less powerful and hard to automate via scripting.
As a computer expert, we want to be more efficient and do our jobs better. We know that command words may not be easily discoverable or mnemonic, so we try to list some common tasks that you might tempt to do in GUI.
- copy a file
- duplicate a file
- copy a folder
- duplicate a folder
- move a file
- rename a file
- move a folder
- rename a folder
- merge folders
- create a new file
- create a new folder
- show file/folder size
- open a file with the default program
- zip a folder
- unzip a folder
- remove a file
- remove a folder
- list folder contents
- tree view a folder and its subfolders
- find a stale file
- show a calendar
- find a future date
- use a calculator
- force quit a program
STOP DRAG AND DROP A FILE, OR CMD/CTRL + C, CMD/CTRL + V A FILE π
Copy readme.txt
to the documents
folder
cp readme.txt documents/
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND DUPLICATE A FILE π
cp readme.txt readme.bak.txt
STOP DRAG AND DROP A FOLDER, OR CMD/CTRL + C, CMD/CTRL + V A FOLDER π
Copy myMusic
folder to the myMedia
folder
cp -a myMusic myMedia/
# or
cp -a myMusic/ myMedia/myMusic/
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND DUPLICATE A FOLDER π
cp -a myMusic/ myMedia/
# or if `myMedia` folder doesn't exist
cp -a myMusic myMedia/
STOP DRAG AND DROP A FILE, OR CTRL + X, CTRL + V A FILE π
mv readme.txt documents/
Always use a trailing slash when moving files, for this reason.
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND RENAME A FILE π
mv readme.txt README.md
STOP DRAG AND DROP A FOLDER, OR CTRL + X, CTRL + V A FOLDER π
mv myMedia myMusic/
# or
mv myMedia/ myMusic/myMedia
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND RENAME A FOLDER π
mv myMedia/ myMusic/
STOP DRAG AND DROP TO MERGE FOLDERS π
rsync -a /images/ /images2/
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND CREATE A NEW FILE π
touch 'new file'
# or
> 'new file'
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND CREATE A NEW FOLDER π
mkdir 'untitled folder'
# or
mkdir -p 'path/may/not/exist/untitled folder'
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND SHOW FILE/FOLDER INFO π
stat -x readme.md
# or
du -sh readme.md
STOP DOUBLE CLICKING A FILE π
xdg-open file # on Linux
open file # on MacOS
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND COMPRESS FOLDER π
zip -r archive_name.zip folder_to_compress
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND UNCOMPRESS FOLDER π
unzip archive_name.zip
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND DELETE A FILE PERMANENTLY π
rm my_useless_file
IMPORTANT: The rm command deletes my_useless_file permanently, which is equivalent to move my_useless_file to Recycle Bin and hit Empty Recycle Bin.
STOP RIGHT CLICK AND DELETE A FOLDER PERMANENTLY π
rm -r my_useless_folder
STOP OPENING YOUR FINDER OR FILE EXPLORER π
ls -la my_folder
STOP OPENING YOUR FINDER OR FILE EXPLORER π
tree # on Linux
find . -print | sed -e 's;[^/]*/;|____;g;s;____|; |;g' # on MacOS
STOP USING YOUR FILE EXPLORER TO FIND A FILE π
Find all files modified more than 5 days ago
findΒ my_folder -mtime +5
STOP LOOKING UP WHAT THIS MONTH LOOKS LIKE BY CALENDAR WIDGETS π
Display a text calendar
cal
STOP USING WEBAPPS TO CALCULATE FUTURE DATES π
What is todays date?
date +%m/%d/%Y
What about a week from now?
date -d "+7 days" # on Linux
date -j -v+7d # on MacOS
STOP USING CALCULATOR WIDGET π
Want to use a calculator?
bc
STOP FORCE QUITE A PROGRAM USING GUI π
killall program_name
Remember, you can always google or man
the commands you are not familiar with.