Workshop: Terminal for the Masses :: V01
Outline
“A cidade não é tão complexa quanto os vendedores de complexidade querem que a gente acredite, porque eles querem nos vender a complexidade.”
“A city is not as complicated as the complexity-sellers want us to believe, because they want to sell us complexity.”
“A city software system is not as complicated as the complexity-sellers want us to believe, because they want to sell us complexity.”
3 qualities for your systems
Interactivity
You can change things on the fly.
Immediacy
You feel an instant connection to what you create.
Interop
Every small tool can combine into a super-tool.
Terminal
Originally, a physical device (keyboard + screen/teletype) for input/output. Today, it’s a terminal emulator: software that provides a text-based interface to programs. It handles display, input, and emulation of standards like VT100, but it doesn’t itself “understand” commands.
Shell
A user interface that provides access to operating system services. It’s the outer layer wrapping around the kernel, letting you interact with the core.
Like a shell around a nut: surrounds and protects the kernel, exposing only controlled ways to interact.
Shell
The shell lets you run CLI tools
CLI Tool (Command-Line Interface Tool)
A small program you run from the shell. Each one does one job well, takes input, and produces output.
Shell (where you begin)
A place to type something small, poke at it, and immediately see what happens. You try, adjust, and learn through instant feedback.
Shell (where you end up)
An environment for connecting and orchestrating small tools. Over time, those little pokes become building blocks you can assemble into rich, improvised workflows.
