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0 pointsskydhash1y ago0 comments

> What's the point of the shell, if not to manage your databases, your REST APIs, files, and mail? Is it something you use for playing games on, or just for fun?

It's for communicating with the operating system, launching commands and viewing their output. And some scripting for repetitive workflows. If I'd want a full programming environment, I'd take a Lisp machine or Smalltalk (a programmable programming environment).

Any other systems that want to be interactive should have their own REPL.

> This kind of thing is a challenge with UNIX tools, and then is fragile forever. Any change to the output format of netstat breaks scripts in fun and create ways. Silently. In production.

The thing is if you're using this kind of scripts in production, then not testing it after updating the system, that's on you. In your story, they'd be better of writing a proper program. IMO, scripts are automating workflows (human guided), not for fire and forget process. Bash and the others deals in text because that's all we can see and write. Objects are for programming languages.

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jiggawatts1y ago

> In your story, they'd be better of writing a proper program.

Sure, on Linux, where your only common options bash or "software".

On Windows, with PowerShell, I can don't have to write a software program. I can write a script that reads like a hypothetical C# Shell would, but oriented towards interactive shells.

(Note that there is a CS-Script, but it's a different thing intended for different use-cases.)

tpmoney1y ago

I'm kind of with the OP that it would be nice if linux shells started expanding a bit. I think the addition of the `/dev/tcp` virtual networking files was an improvement, even if it now means my shell has to talk TCP and UDP instead of relying on nc to do that

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