Investigating User Interfaces
Earlier, we noted the distinction between text-mode and graphical user interfaces. Although most end users favor GUIs because of their ease of use, Linux retains a strong text-mode tradition. Chapter 6 describes Linux’s text-mode tools in more detail, and Chapter 4, “Using Common Linux Programs,” covers basic principles of Linux GUI operations. It’s important that you have some grounding in the basic principles of both text-mode and graphical user interfaces now, since user interface issues crop up from time to time in intervening chapters.
Using a Text-Mode User Interface
In the past, and even sometimes today, Linux computers booted in text mode. Once the system had completely booted, the screen would display a simple text-mode login prompt, which might look like this:
Fedora release 21 (Twenty One) Kernel 3.18.6-200.fc21.x86_64 on an x86_64 (tty1) essentials login:
The details of such a login prompt vary from one system to...