Differences between version 10 and predecessor to the previous major change of GUI.
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| Newer page: | version 10 | Last edited on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 8:36:38 pm | by CraigBox | Revert |
| Older page: | version 9 | Last edited on Sunday, October 26, 2003 5:26:49 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
[Acronym] for __G__raphical __U__ser __I__nterface.
A GUI provides a graphical way of looking at data and normally involves the [WIMP] paradigm.
-In MicrosoftWindows the [GUI] with all of its layers
is built right into the OperatingSystem. Conversely
, [Linux] has no provisions for [GUI]s of its own - it is provided by ordinary applications, commonly the [XFree86] implementation of the [X11] standard. This in turn is only
a bare skelleton for [
GUI]s which
a large variety of [DesktopEnvironment]s are built on top of
. The most common ones are [GNOME] or [KDE]
but there are more
, such as [XFce]. Purists use [X11] only to run multiple copies of xterm
(1
).
+The most obvious difference between GUIs and CommandLine interfaces
is that a CLI makes you __remember__ a command
, where
a GUI makes you __recognize__
a command
.
The human memory is far better at recognition than recall (example: if I asked you the name of your first teacher at school, you probably wouldn't remember,
but if I said "hey
, do you remember Mrs So-and-So", you would probably recall her!) GUIs let you manipulate graphical
(iconic
) representations of data and programs
.
-Note that a [GUI] does not necessary entail graphics
mode; you can write console [GUI] applications using [Curses].
+In MicrosoftWindows the [GUI], with all of its layers, is built right into the OperatingSystem. (For better or for worse!) Conversely, the [Linux] kernel has no provisions for [GUI]s of its own accord - it is provided by ordinary applications, commonly the [XFree86] implementation of the [X11] standard. This in turn is only a bare skelleton for [GUI]s, which a large variety of [DesktopEnvironment]s are built on top of. The most common ones are [GNOME] or [KDE] but there are more, such as [XFce]. Purists[1] use [X11] only to run multiple copies of xterm(1).
+
+
Note that a [GUI] does not necessary entail leaving "text
mode"
; you can write console [GUI] applications using [Curses].
Contrast CommandLine.
+
+----
+[1] cf. "Masochists"
