Command Line – Modernization

Sixteen years ago, when I began writing about command-line applications, the basics seemed mostly fixed. Basic commands such as cd, grep, and ls, as well as the configuration files in /etc, had changed little since the heyday of Unix, and many man pages still bore the original author's name. Little did I guess that the command line was about to undergo a series of modernizations. Some of the changes were due to new technologies and the obsolescence of others. Others were designed to make the command line more accessible to the growing number of desktop-oriented users. Today, while the time-honored commands remain the defaults, they are increasingly being challenged by innovative alternatives. What follows are some typical examples of the recent innovations.

Edited and Revised Commands

At the most basic level, recent years have seen a restructuring of basic commands. One of the most noticeable examples is the rethinking of apt-get, the well-known package manager for Debian-based distributions. The rethinking began with Ubuntu's Advanced Packaging Tool (APT). Not a complete replacement, APT is a stripped down version that covers the most common use cases and incorporates a few apt-get utilities under more accurate names, making users more aware of them. For instance, apt-cache is divided into search and show, while dpkg-query becomes list. In addition, apt-get's countdown for operations is replaced with a progress bar, which is more common in modern computing. However, the output of apt-get remains unchanged, and apt-get is still needed for some more advanced functions.

Nala (Figure 1) takes APT's revisions even further. Like APT, Nala simplifies basic commands and uses a progress bar. It also incorporates the netapt-apt utility as fetch to find the fastest mirrors, with the option to prioritize them by Debian-derivative and download packages in parallel. Also, like Fedora's DNF, Nala includes a history that can be convenient when troubleshooting. However, the most noticeable feature is Nala's rewriting of output. Not only does Nala color feedback and arrange it in boxes, but it rewrites output to condense it and make it more readable. For instance, where apt-get might show "After this operation, 12.4MB of additional disk space will be used," Nala would simply show "Disk space required: 12.49MB." Although the difference is small, Nala's version is shorter and easier to comprehend.

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