Hacker News Reader

Comment by orangepurple | Hacker News Reader

It's amusing to me that basic functionality like searching for a file is a $6 app on MacOS (the link within the article is https://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/) while fd-find exists (https://github.com/sharkdp/fd) on all major platforms and is free, open source, and easy to use if you have eyes and can read a few basic instructions.

View on HN

Piling on here, this is obviously a Bad Take. In order to use fd, you need:

1. To know what the terminal is. Most people do not.

2. Either Homebrew or MacPorts installed. At this point you've lost the majority of the people who vaguely know what the terminal is.

3. Familiarity with how unix commands work, what "flags" are, how to write them, how to specify filepaths.

4. How to debug those commands when you invariably get it wrong.

5. Since fd just dumps filepaths, you need to know how to inspect them further and open them.

Yes, $6 is more than worth it for many people. All you need are eyes and the ability to use a mouse and keyboard.

I think a more charitable take is that it's interesting how CLI programs tend to be FOSS and gratis (maybe donations accepted) while GUI programs tend to be proprietary and non-gratis.

GUIs are much harder than a bit of system programming and console outputs.

> CLI programs tend to be FOSS

I think this is more likely because they're often made (or at least started) by individuals as a hobby or side project, not as a commercial venture. CLI is generally easier to develop then GUIs especially cross-platform.

> GUI programs tend to be proprietary and non-gratis.

GUIs require so much more work, especially for cross platform. If engineers are paid for their time then this is worth it.

Granted electron has made it far easier - you still need to be essentially a full stack developer to make a GUI with it.

mdfind is a built-in terminal command that finds stuff. No need to spend $6

Doesn't usage of mdfind still suffer from GP's problems 1, 3, 4, and 5?

Spotlight, then, which is the built-in GUI for the same database as mdfind.

Terminal workflows are very much not for everyone. Many people are happy to pay a few bucks for a nice and friendly GUI application. It's not such a bad thing that people are willing to pay for software, as it is, in fact, the way many of us make our living.

I think the really interesting observation here is that nobody tries to make a living selling small CLI programs, and moreover that these GUI programs tend to also be under proprietary licenses without so much as source available for viewing.

I find it interesting because I think very few people are willing to go through the trouble to "pirate" a $6 app if it had a free-as-in-freedom license. Building GUI applications from source tends to be a pain in the ass, and the people who weren't willing to pay $6 aren't even potential customers in the first place.

Yeah, I agree, it's a shame that there isn't a better mechanism to pay for CLI software. I think a lot of developers would just refuse non-open source CLI software, but that really shuts down what could be a healthy market. Don't know what the solution would be though ("GitHub sponsors" don't seem to be it...)

It's not really that hard to understand - the people most likely to use CLI commands are the least likely to pay for software. Just look at the comments in this story :p

HoudaSpot is far more than a friendly GUI - It's a powerful query tool and while I love the CLI for many things, HoudaSpot is a great example of how a well thought out GUI can beat the pants off of a CLI for this particular use case. Especially if you aren't exactly sure of what you are looking for/the best way to find it. Using HoudaSpot as an interactive spelunking tool for your data (not just the file system!) is pretty amazing.

I tend to agree with you, but I had a situation where my mind was completely changed. I worked for a company in high school believe it or not that did not give mice to the employees, lots of data entry. They said the mouse would slow you down significantly and while I struggled for a couple weeks to learn everything and the hotkeys for the terminal/console apps, it became insanely obvious that operating a computer without reliance on the mouse was far more performant, and easier once I stopped fighting the urge to grab my mouse.

I don't think it's for everyone, but I'm grateful for that experience.

Amusing that people buy hammers when you can use a rock for free.

The functionality is totally already there, both from the command line and from the GUI. If you need something more sophisticated you can pay for it. I never have needed such a thing, but I'm sure there are people for whom it is worth it.

There does happen to be a bug in the normal functionality--that is unfortunate, but Linux certainly has its share of bugs also.

Is it really that surprising that a GUI alternative to a command line tool exists and that most people would prefer that? I don't see anything wrong with providing a tool and charging for it.

It is to him because that's just how smart he is! Doesn't need GUIs! Still uses a black and white monitor! Only needs a terminal!

He's VerySmart!

I have eyes and can read basic instructions.

I'm also a developer who can work perfectly nice with terminals.

I prefer GUI-based search as I feel it visually appealing.

A GUI with mouse support is a fairly important if not crucial feature for many users. It is their preference.

The Find any file app is actually free and only asks you to donate, but still gives full functionality.

I like it because it can search system files. There is a way to do that in Finder though too ;-)

A lot of Windows applications are like this too. People who use the CLI are extremely lucky to be able to benefit from so much free software.

> . . .are extremely lucky to be able . . .

. . . have invested the upfront time to be able . . .

What is this luck you speak of? Everyone has an equal learning opportunity and the software is free.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com