Bargaining - the third stage of grief

I hesitate to mention this for fear of jinxing my good luck, but so far all my downloads and installations have worked to perfection. In addition, I'm pleased to report that I have encountered no issues when following the assignment directions, and each command and process presented by Prof. Fulton has worked as advertised. This has been a boon to my 672 morale, as I was quite concerned at the outset about possible system crashes and software failures. Ironically, the only computer problem I've had is with the display driver which, despite a recent update, continues to occasionally fail leaving my screen black and the mouse inoperable.

The CLI commands continue to provoke the most frustration - not because they don't work, but because remembering all of them seems impossible. I mention in my discussion post that I'm still not sure which commands to prioritize, but it may be a non-issue. Continued practice makes each more memorable, and I'm sure practice will likewise reveal which commands are most useful and ubiquitous. At least I'm losing my fear of the command line, which I consider a minor victory.

I enjoyed the VIM tutorial, and was fascinated by how powerful a few simple commands could be. After studying the tutorial, I understand for the first time why CLI advocates believe commands are faster than using a GUI. Of course, I realize the point of the course is not to persuade us to use CLI in our everyday computing, but I am slowly developing a greater appreciation (acceptance?) for CLI. As I alluded to above, however, most of the tutorial commands have already evacuated my short-term memory. Undoubtedly, additional practice will be required to use them proficiently. The hidden files interest me and I find myself asking, "What are they hiding?" Unless I'm missing something, we still haven't opened many files, so I remain curious about their content. For instance, how are text files presented upon opening? In a word-processor type format like Word, or in the same environment that the tutorial utilizes?

The configuration went smoothly although some of it, like the alias', I'm unsure when I'll use. I don't recall consciously configuring a computer before, although I must have each time a got a new one. Perhaps, because I would have used a GUI, I was unaware that my actions qualified as "configuration". In any case, the step-by-step instructions were easy to follow and worked.

All told, everything has worked well during the first three weeks. My biggest question remains, "What relevance does all this have to my future career as a librarian/archivist?" Apparently the answers to such questions will be revealed over the next few weeks, and I anxiously await the coming revelation.