Learning how to deal with the unix command line is awful, and unix is awful, but it's also the best thing we have right now, and using it is a skill which will pay off again and again over decades.
Helping people to learn it is definitely torture, but it's honorable work that contributes to society in a big way.
I have no understanding of the point of view of the angry comments on this thread, although I suspect that they're based on the headline. The author clearly thinks that the command line is the greatest thing since sliced bread. From the article:
"What is wonderful about doing applied computer science research in the modern era is that there are thousands of pieces of free software and other computer-based tools that researchers can leverage to create their research software. With the right set of tools, one can be 10x or even 100x more productive than peers who don't know how to set up those tools."
"[...]perhaps what is more important to a researcher than programming ability is adeptness at dealing with command-line bullshittery, since that enables one to become 10x or even 100x more productive than peers by finding, installing, configuring, customizing, and remixing the appropriate pieces of free software."
"As an advisor, I've found that one of the highest-leverage activities that I do with my students is guiding them through the intricacies of command-line bullshittery. There is simply no substitute for sitting down with them one-on-one on their laptop and walking them through all of the arcane commands to type, what they each mean, and how to interpret the bullshit output that's barfed out to the drab terminal."
Helping people to learn it is definitely torture, but it's honorable work that contributes to society in a big way.
I have no understanding of the point of view of the angry comments on this thread, although I suspect that they're based on the headline. The author clearly thinks that the command line is the greatest thing since sliced bread. From the article:
"What is wonderful about doing applied computer science research in the modern era is that there are thousands of pieces of free software and other computer-based tools that researchers can leverage to create their research software. With the right set of tools, one can be 10x or even 100x more productive than peers who don't know how to set up those tools."
"[...]perhaps what is more important to a researcher than programming ability is adeptness at dealing with command-line bullshittery, since that enables one to become 10x or even 100x more productive than peers by finding, installing, configuring, customizing, and remixing the appropriate pieces of free software."
"As an advisor, I've found that one of the highest-leverage activities that I do with my students is guiding them through the intricacies of command-line bullshittery. There is simply no substitute for sitting down with them one-on-one on their laptop and walking them through all of the arcane commands to type, what they each mean, and how to interpret the bullshit output that's barfed out to the drab terminal."