Signs That You Are Not Comfortable With The Command Line

Some signs that you aren't as comfortable as you could be when using a command line. Drawn from observations over twenty years at many companies.

Runs all over the Tennis Court

To see what's in a directory, you type:

cd  very/long/path
ls

or even worse

cd very
cd long
cd  path
ls

This is the easy way:

ls very/long/path

Drives With Accelerator, Brake, Accelerator, Brake, ...

You start an editor to look at a file, then quit the editor to list the directory, then start the editor to look at the file again. Repeat. At least bring up another window and edit the file from there. Or browse the directory from inside your editor.

Tells Jokes With Too Much Detail

You type every character in file or directory names. Autocompletion comes with almost every shell and will do the typing for you.

Never Takes Elevators

You move around the command line only with the arrow keys. Sometimes doesn't even hold them down for repeat but instead presses the desired key many, many times. Keboard shortcuts to move around and delete larger blocks of text such as words not used.