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Jan 21, 2017
Is it better to run/open programs from terminal?
I'm using Ubuntu-Mate, frankly, I'm kind of new to Linux, I've been using this distro for almost 3 months and I'm starting to understand how to use the terminal.
But I notice something yesterday, I install Desmume, a ds emulator and I launched with the normal icon found in Applications-->Games-->Desmume. But when I did it like that it didn't run any room. So I launched from the terminal trying to accomplish something and I notice that the UI has changed a little and that now it runs the rooms without a problem.
So I've been wondering if there's a difference in performance or options, or whether if it's recommendable or not to run/open the programs from the terminal?
Thanks for your help ;)
PD: Attached file below
Responses(3)
For most programs, running them from the command-line opens up more freedom and control, as you can enter any program parameters and files and selectors there easily. You can use pipes to establish a flow of data. Just as an example, with command line, you can easily execute all JS files in a directory which have "test" in their name:
$ ls /path/to/files |grep -i test |node
Compared to that, running the program via an icon just executes one pre-defined command (which you can change any time, btw). Other than that, the program should behave in exactly the same way. The behavior you describe probably stems from a difference in parameters or you used a different user to execute the program from command line.
Brandon
Frontend Developer
It's the same with any operating system. You can run programs from Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on OSX, ADB on Android, etc. Launching via command line will give you more options as Marco mentioned. Long ago there were no mouse-based GUI. Everything was launched via command line.