That’s interesting. I’ve often wondered what it must be like programing or using the CLI if you aren’t familiar with the English language, but I hadn’t considered the dyslexia/graphia type issues.
My brain mixes up all letters with the same/similar form (regardless of rotation or flip) - so I often mix up [d, b, p, q] or [a, e] or [u, n] when typing. And then I read the command 20 times over until I find which letter got mixed up, because my brain autocorrects to the right command when reading.
It helped to use the Dyslexie font in the terminal, because it makes those shapes more unique distinct. (not to be confused with open dyslexic which did not help me at all).
Also asking an AI to correct the command is huge, but takes time.
But man GUI has none of the hassle, it says what the button will do when you click it, so you click it and it does that. How wonderful is that, ay?
Also asking an AI to correct the command is huge, but takes time.
I use shell_gpt with a custom prompt bound to a hotkey that dumps my current terminal line into a local (Deepseek) AI which is prompted with some information about my system and a preferred reply format.
For example, I’ll type:
rsync movies/ media server but also do it recursively
Then press CTRL+L and a bash script copies the terminal input into a prompt that requests the AI return a properly formatted terminal command which it places into the terminal input. This way I can know what I want to do and forget the exact switch or option.
A different hotkey (CTRL+O) sends the terminal input to a Chatbot prompt for one-off answers.
I’m doing a bit more on the backend now (RAG using man pages, for example) for the Ctrl L command, but I used it with a simple prompt for several months. It’s like having a slight more intelligent tab completion.
I just have really bad memory from a combo of ADHD and weed. Remembering where in the GUI to fix something is a lot easier than remembering commands. Especially when if I fuck up said command I could make the problem worse or make a whole new problem. GUI gives me visual landmarks that stick in my memory, and thats something the terminal doesn’t. Like navigating a city via landmarks vs via street signs. Tell me directions via streets I am lost, but tell me to go left after the walgreens on the river and now I know.
I’m dyslexic and the terminal can be a challenge some days
Now that’s a better reason for looking for a GUI solution than the OP had. I hadn’t really considered how dyslexia would affect CLI usage.
It’s not a universal effect. Some dyslexics or people with related challenges like dysgraphia will find the CLI easier.
That’s interesting. I’ve often wondered what it must be like programing or using the CLI if you aren’t familiar with the English language, but I hadn’t considered the dyslexia/graphia type issues.
Just to give you some extra impressions:
My brain mixes up all letters with the same/similar form (regardless of rotation or flip) - so I often mix up [d, b, p, q] or [a, e] or [u, n] when typing. And then I read the command 20 times over until I find which letter got mixed up, because my brain autocorrects to the right command when reading.
It helped to use the Dyslexie font in the terminal, because it makes those shapes more unique distinct. (not to be confused with open dyslexic which did not help me at all).
Also asking an AI to correct the command is huge, but takes time.
But man GUI has none of the hassle, it says what the button will do when you click it, so you click it and it does that. How wonderful is that, ay?
Also asking an AI to correct the command is huge, but takes time.
I use shell_gpt with a custom prompt bound to a hotkey that dumps my current terminal line into a local (Deepseek) AI which is prompted with some information about my system and a preferred reply format.
For example, I’ll type:
Then press CTRL+L and a bash script copies the terminal input into a prompt that requests the AI return a properly formatted terminal command which it places into the terminal input. This way I can know what I want to do and forget the exact switch or option.
A different hotkey (CTRL+O) sends the terminal input to a Chatbot prompt for one-off answers.
I’m doing a bit more on the backend now (RAG using man pages, for example) for the Ctrl L command, but I used it with a simple prompt for several months. It’s like having a slight more intelligent tab completion.
I just have really bad memory from a combo of ADHD and weed. Remembering where in the GUI to fix something is a lot easier than remembering commands. Especially when if I fuck up said command I could make the problem worse or make a whole new problem. GUI gives me visual landmarks that stick in my memory, and thats something the terminal doesn’t. Like navigating a city via landmarks vs via street signs. Tell me directions via streets I am lost, but tell me to go left after the walgreens on the river and now I know.
Me too. Just use tab and complete commands that way. Fish or zsh with oh-my-zsh is your friend.
Ha ha, even tab complete isn’t enough to help me some times