So let me start of by saying I really like my terminal.
I just enjoy typing a small command and see the outcome it has.
I can do things like rm filename to delete a file.
To show a files content cat filename comes to the rescue.
Editing files can be done via nvim filename.
Awesome stuff.
Especially as a developer that has to deal a lot with files this feels like god-given.
When I discovered this I fell in awe.
The more I used it, the more a subtle voice creeped up in the back of my head.
“What if you would do this for everything?”
And indeed, it does sound tempting:
Managing your emails? -> Terminal
Listening to your music? -> Terminal
Taking notes and todos? -> Terminal
Communicating with friends? -> Terminal
I’m not alone with this desire.
People made it their mission to port every possible software on earth into a Terminal application (just google ”
There is nothing wrong with this As already described, text commands certainly have their strength. But in my honest opinion it’s not the medium for everything.
I discovered this when trying to manage my todos. I fell in love with them when discovering “Getting Things Done” (GTD) by David Allen. It’s a methodology to manage your tasks. Funnily enough his first recommendation was using pieces of paper, one for each task. Can you imagine this? Paper. Am I a caveman that I have to chop down trees for managing my life? I am a instructor of molten sand, pressed into computer chips. I make rocks think. I’m not gonna use paper. I use the most effective thing that’s on my hand. Terminals.
The two tools I found where todo.txt and taskwarrior.
The first one is quite simple and relies on editing a single file (called todo.txt, who would’ve guessed?).
The other one is a full fledged Terminal application that also features a TUI (some kind of dynamic user-interface, think of a website but black/white, made out of ASCII symbols, in the Terminal).
I got it working quickly.
And I was fast.
Hearing a podcast about supplements for vegetarians -> task add "Check out vitamin D3 supplements"
My phone broke, have to replace it quick -> task add "Buy new phone" priority:H
Finished my work ticket, what others do I have? -> task project:Work list
But you know what? After 2 weeks I couldn’t stand it anymore. There simply was no joy in managing my todos. No colors, no sounds when I ticked something off, no pretty listings. Heck, even the paper method worked better and was more satisfying.
In the end I found the joy again when discovering Vikunja, a web based, self-hostable todo application. It gave me back the delightness of managing my tasks. It’s pretty, even at the cost of efficiency.
But you see, that’s what this whole post is about. Put satisfaction before efficiency.
To this day, I try to choose my tools with this in mind. I decide against professional programs, efficient programming languages, refined workout routines. Instead I go with things like Logseq for note taking, fish instead of bash for scripting and my own weird set of workout schedules. Oh and of course neovim for text editing because I still love the Terminal.