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Webmin: can a graphical front end for system administration replace the command line?
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Comments (6)
So, in other words, GUI is not Turing-complete? :)
Pack of flash cards... I like it.
Yes, most (all, in my experience) GUIs are not Turing complete. Heck, most of them can't express the kinds of things that a regular expression can, so they're really and truly in the "rebus" class in Chomsky's Language venn diagram.
I had this same thought when I had to set up a database. I wanted to use MySQL, and didn't want to use PHPMyAdmin, even though I had little to no idea as to what I was doing. I figured the MySQL docs would be enough for me to figure out how to create and manage a database.
I ran into a ton of roadblocks right away. Even the basics like setting up the root account and determining whether or not I needed to create a MySQL user and how to arrange the whole thing. I needed a beginners' MySQL book, most likely.
I probably should have used MyPHPAdmin.
Instead, I ditched MySQL and used SQLite, which was easier to deal with all around.
I guess I just need to hit the books before I work with SQL databases again. That being said, things like PHPMyAdmin are pretty valuable, I think.
I ran into a ton of roadblocks right away. Even the basics like setting up the root account and determining whether or not I needed to create a MySQL user and how to arrange the whole thing. I needed a beginners' MySQL book, most likely.
I probably should have used MyPHPAdmin.
Instead, I ditched MySQL and used SQLite, which was easier to deal with all around.
I guess I just need to hit the books before I work with SQL databases again. That being said, things like PHPMyAdmin are pretty valuable, I think.
I find that tools like Webmin, PHPMyAdmin, etc. are useful in some cases, but they just aren't at the point of being able to totally replace cli configuring.
Like if you are setting up a service, and need some odd configuration option, the webmin module for that service may not have that option built in, so you end up going back to cli to set it.
Edit: And sometimes, it's just plain easier to do things by hand at the cli than trying to figure out how to do them in a gui tool.
Edit: And sometimes, it's just plain easier to do things by hand at the cli than trying to figure out how to do them in a gui tool.
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Therefore, someone who knows the command line language's grammar can express more things than anyone can with the WebMin rebus like interface.
Let's face it, if a point-n-click language were all that expressive, humans would not speak and write in languages with grammars. We'd all carry a pack of flash cards, and just flash the right card for the occasion.