After last night, which do you prefer? What are the benefits/drawbacks of a graphical user interface? What are the benefits/drawbacks of a command line interface? Why do you think understanding the command line is so vital to your future careers in IT Auditing?
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Heiang Cheung says
Before I used to like GUI it just make everything easier and you don’t have to remember anything. you just click and you get to the program you need to use. After these past couple week in the class and learning more about command line I think I like command line better because its more detail. GUI only allow what they want you to see but with command lines you could see the inner workings. Also the ability to move around a computer without a mouse is pretty cool makes me feel more techie. Understanding command line is vital to an IT auditor because it allow IT auditor to look deep into thing that could be hidden if you were just using the GUI. You could find programs that are shared and basically just move a round quicker.
Ping Sun says
As a common PC user, I like GUI because it is really easy to use. You do not need to remember any command and everything you want to do is visualized and tridimensional. GUI has beautiful frames and menu, visible icons, and it is really easy for beginner to learn how to use computer. The drawbacks of GUI is just because it is beautiful and easy to use, it is actually also easy to hide something from the users. For GUI, the screen users see is just what the programmers want them to see.
As an IT auditor or person who want to work in this area, CLI is better. CLI is actually more real than GUI. The screen we see is what the computer’s “face” actually looks like and the commands we type are actually the real conversation with the computers. It is like we do not need the operating system to be the “intermediary” and could “talk” to computer very directly. However, the drawbacks of CLI is also obvious. The interface of CLI is ugly. Black screen and white letters make people feel boring, especially the new learners.
Patrick J. Wasson says
I like your description about the computer’s “face”. Good work!
Somayeh Keshtkar says
Needless to say that GUI is better than CLI since it’s much easier to use for everyday use. As the name suggests (Graphical User Interface), GUI is designed with user experience in mind, hence users don’t need to remember certain commands, and can perform simple tasks with few clicks. However, there are some cases, and software, that require interactions through command line only. Knowing command line for us as IT auditors is very important for 2 reasons; First we know what commands are being performed under the hood, and second it enables us to interact with certain software through commands. I personally think that CLI removes the complexity of graphical user interface which results in much smoother and faster results. Lastly, command line is used in many operating systems, specially Linux based servers, and it’s the only way to perform tasks in such environments. Therefore, knowing CLI is very important for people in tech and IT.
Hanqing Zhou says
I like GUI better, but I think if I am a IT Auditor, I would like to choose CLI. Compare to CLI, CUI is more easy to use. You do not need to remember commands and everything you want by clicking the simple visible icons. However, the only disadvantage of GUI is GUI can not directly “communicate” with your computer, it will hide some functions that you need to search on the computer. CLI’s operation interface is boring, black screen with tiny and long white words, it will make people feel Irritable if type the commands for a long time. CLI’s advantage is also clear, it can directly match the command with the functions, it is directly communicate with your PC without third party.
Karabo Ntokwane says
GUI allows users to communicate with operating systems in the form of images/animations/audio as opposed to text. CLI is a text only interface, which only requires input from the keyboard is less appealing to the end user.
GUI is easier to use that the CLI because there is no need to memorize any commands and everything is just at the click of the mouse. The CLI does not give an opportunity to multi task and view different things all at the same time as the GUI. Those that are familiar with the CLI find it good for performance as you navigate the interface just with a keyboard doing tasks that take longer with GUI. CLI uses less computer resources than the GUI.
I liked the example that was used in class about the difference between reading a book and watching a movie. The GUI is only a reflection of what the developer on the OS wants you to see. As an auditor, command line interfaces will provide access to lower levels of a machine’s software and hardware.
Xinteng Chen says
I prefer to use GUI, because it is easy to use. People do not need to remember any commands. Users just click by mouse to use it. However, using CLI is straightly communicate with computer. Users can enter commands to let computers know what we want it do. As an IT auditor, I need to understand how to use CLI, because if I know commands, I can communicate with computers better to use every function that the computers have.
Marsha Billups says
A a non technical person, I definitely prefer GUI. Here’s the comparison I did for our assignment.
GUI
Marsha Billups says
GUI CLI
Very selective access to source code Open access to source code
License must be purchased for each user
Marsha Billups says
I’ll share my comparison (3rd time is a charm)
WINDOWS/GUI LINUX/CLI
Very select access to Source code Open access to Source code
License must be purchased for each machine No license required as long as code is shared
Microsoft Windows support available Linux support not available only Peer/User
Must know where to find software Centralized location to manage application installation
Limited/rigid desktop options Flexible desktop options
Big Microsoft marketing budget Limited marketing exposure
Zhixin Wei says
First, a graphical user interface is less skill based – most anybody can use a computer with a well designed GUI. Second, higher productivity-you can do complicated things quickly with a computer.
A command line interface is usually more powerful than UI tools, and it is easy to stand on the shoulders of giants. Above all, I will suggest GUI.
As an IT auditor, I should have knowledge about system function controls. And learning the command line will help me gain greater control over system functions.
Linlan Chen says
As for me, I would prefer the CUI. because I agree with many classmates that CUI is easier to use than CLI
People do not need to remember any commands instead of communicating with computer. it just click.
Chenhui Lai says
I prefer to use GUI because a GUI is much more visually intuitive, users typically pick up on how to use a GUI faster than a command line interface. Also, GUI users have windows that enable a user to view, control, manipulate, and toggle through multiple programs and folders at the same time. While newer technology is making a GUI faster and more efficient than ever before, using both a mouse and keyboard to navigate and control the GUI is still a bit slower than a command line interface. Overall, a GUI is used by more users today than a CLI. Dedicated and hardcore programmers may lean towards using a CLI for efficiency and speed, but the GUI is more user-friendly and preferred by most users.
Yijiang Li says
I prefer Graphical user interface (GUI) than command line interface (CLI), because GUI provides us a quite clear method to let us understand the basic functions of the operating system. However, CLI also has some advantages. For instance, a server needs a stable working environment, and a server operating system can provide a entire command working environment without the component of GUI. It is quite helpful for servers to reduce the potential error, because less component of the operating system means less error.
Andres Galarza says
A GUI (at least you hope) is going to offer the advantage of being intuitive and more easily valuable. There’s an entire field (user experience design) that, in part, seeks to constantly make a visual product more useful. The command line is never going to benefit from the same “ease of use”. However, it’s extremely powerful because of its simplicity. If you know what you’re doing, you can actually move through tasks very quickly and perhaps dig in at a layer that is much more challenging with a GUI.
I think I still prefer a GUI, but I liked your point on command line knowledge “building street credibility” with technologists.
Raisa Ahmed says
GUI Benefits:
1) User friendly
2) Requires less skill
GUI Drawbacks:
1) User needs access to keyboard and mouse to carry out tasks
2) Multi-step
CLI Benefits
1) User only needs a keyboard (faster performance)
2) User can manipulate another device or its files over a network
CLI Drawbacks
1) User must be familiar with scripting commands
2) User can manipulate another device or its files over a network
I prefer the GUI because it is easy to use and I know my way around it well. However, I found the CLI quite fascinating. If I was better at using the CLI and knew the scripting commands and syntax, I would use that instead since you can do just about everything from the little black box.
The command line is vital to an IT Auditor because it gives him/her control over the devices in a particular network. The IT Auditor can then manipulate the device(s) and/or its contents with the help of the CLI. The command line is much more efficient and faster than the GUI.
Tamekia P. says
I still prefer the GUI over the CLI but that is probably because I am more comfortable with the GUI. The GUI is easy to understand but lacks the functionality of the CLI. The CLI is faster because you are skipping over the mouse clicks. In addition, GUI requires you to click around and it may take you a while tI o find what you are looking for. Understanding the CLI is important for audit because everything that you may need as an auditor will not be found within the GUI. The GUI is designed for the normal user and not audit functions.
Dongjie Wang says
compare both GUI and CLI I personally prefer GUI because GUI is more visually. It uses graphical icons to represent software and devices. CLI is text-based representation in which the user types the commands to operate the software or devices. Users need to familiar with the commands to use CLI efficiently. Both GUI and CLI are useful tools for IT auditors,
Fraser G says
It’s all a matter of context. For general use I prefer the GUI, because I still feel like its much more efficient (for me). If/when I learn more of the CLI, I may begin to use it, because many systems in corporate IT are CLI only – my home network for example is all Ubiquiti and some of the setup I implemented was done through CLI. I think the big advantage of CLI is that it offers any command available… because GUI is an abstraction of CLI, the GUI does not always allow you to access the same functionality.
CLI benefits- Potential to use ANY command/function – not limited by layer of abstraction. Steeper learning curve and *can* be more time consuming
GUI- More “efficient” and user friendly.
I think CLI is important to us A) Some apps and hardware we use in corporate IT will only use CLI and B) Understanding what lays below the “glass” gives us an idea of what is really going on.
Folake Stella Alabede says
So the first time we did the windows 2012 download, I somehow did something wrong and did not download the GUI. (I think it was a very memorable experience). I was actually doing assignments with the CLI, before I thought to check on google why I didn’t have the GUI, and I saw that I had to go download the GUI. After the GUI download, it was a totally different and welcome experience.
I think a GUI is user friendly and almost anyone can use a computer with a GUI, but NOT everyone can use a computer with a CLI.
With a CLI, one disadvantage is that you must know what commands you need to get the results you want. A command will fail with any slight typing error. Even though the professor taught us to always use “help” when we need a command, I feel there is a limit to “help”.
Although the general consensus is that a GUI makes an operating system slower while a command line uses lower memory, I think it also depends on RAM, processing speed etc
The CLI is vital to IT Auditing because I shows a lot of things that might be hidden using a GUI, a CLI will show the result of any requests/ commands all in all its details.
Yingyan Wang says
As for me, I prefer GUI as well as other classmates. GUI is easier to use because it is more visual instead of using too many commands. In this way, it is easier for people who don’t have much IT experience to learn and use. However, both GUI and CLI are useful tool, it just depends on which one is more suitable for specific IT auditor to use since someone may prefer GUI, but others may prefer CLI.