I’d lie if I said this post wasn’t inspired by the HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’m a big fan of Douglas Adams, and his idea of Genuine People Personalities really hit me.
What if terminals stopped being so boring and formal and instead got a bit more… people-like? You know, like Marvin the Android, or Eddie the Ship, or even those charming ship doors that are always “Glad to be of Service”.
Imagine firing up a terminal, and getting responses that are a bit more… human…
Or perhaps, something less formal, maybe you just want to sit back, relax and kick shell…
Of course, this sounds pretty far-fetched, but I’m sure that I’m not the only looney toon out there that would actually like the shells to be less robotic and more entertaining.
And doing this wouldn’t be that difficult. All we need is some sort of a locale package. Instead of using en-US (or en-UK), we could use something like en-TMNT or en-Formal, or even en-Fudd? (Peskwy woot powews)
And before you tell me that this has been tried before, and people hated it… Well…
You’re right. It’s a lost cause.
Perhaps this topic is best left as a thought, a ‘what if’, but terminals have been around for dozens of years and little has changed since then. Perhaps giving terminals some people personality could help us leap into J.A.R.V.I.S.-like Operative Systems?
And while we’re discussing terminals, a way to nuke the output of a failed build would be nice…
Share and Enjoy!
-Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
Update: Nicu suggested one more terminal.
can i have also the troll face?
“And doing this wouldn’t be that difficult. All we need is some sort of a locale package.”
I know the post’s tongue-in-cheek, but actually, it *is* difficult – much more so than you’d expect. See:
http://www.dansdata.com/gz118.htm
The first time you see “Sorry dude, you need some root powers to do that!” would be cute. The tenth would be annoying. The 100th would have you throwing things at the screen. That was the problem with Clippy. I’d actually add a bit to Dan’s analysis: the problem is made even harder by the fact that interactions with computing devices are still so deterministic and limited in range. There just isn’t a very wide range of basic responses you’re going to get more than once in a blue moon in a shell session; even in a language as flexible as English, there’s only so many ways you can ‘creatively’ phrase those responses.
Wow, that was quite an interesting read.
I’ve dipped into game development before, and considered one-line NPCs to be part of the norm.
What’s the difference between reading “Sorry dude, you need root powers” and “You need to be root to perform this command.”? You still get tired of reading the same phrase over and over.
What I’m looking for isn’t really dynamic responses to the same problem (I.e., ask for root permission), but less… professional… responses.
Getting your terminal to tell you “Hold your horses! You sure you want to do this? Yup, Nah” instead of “Yes, No” would be a welcome sight for sore eyes.
I think to most people it’s kind of an ‘uncanny valley’ thing. A message that just states the facts baldly and concisely – “You need to be root to perform this command” – clearly isn’t pretending to represent a personality. It’s neutral, plain and simple; it’s clearly not trying to be anything it isn’t. But a jokey message in natural language – just as your blog post suggests – implies that, hey, the thing sending you this message has a quirky personality. But it _doesn’t_; it just dumbly repeats the same quirky, ‘individual’ message every time. It’s presenting itself as something it isn’t, which (to most people) seems to be more annoying.
I guess I’m not most people.
just like your momma told you, you’re special
Adam, speak for yourself
And Reach for the stars