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I see discussions occasionally about having GUIs replacing command lines. And while I'm all for it, there's a point that I never see discussed. Part of why command lines work so much better than GUIs for some tasks is that GUIs require organization and hierarchy to work.

6/7/25, 8:15 pm0 reposts3 likes

TapGhoul

@tapghoul.dev

6 July 2025

CLIs meanwhile, all commands are just a big list. But to expose a CLI as a GUI naively wouldn't work because one big list is a terrible way to organize a GUI, and I don't think you *can* expose all possible CLI workflows with a nice unified GUI.

pennymeowse

@pinchese.moe

6 July 2025

the only possible solution imo is a node editor, iirc there's one for ffmpeg but its paid and not open source so i'm not biting

TapGhoul

@tapghoul.dev

7 July 2025

The problem is node editors are great at helping build tools, but they aren't necessarily helpful at making easy to access processes. And few people want to *have* to build their own dashboards. I'm not sure there's a happy medium here that really gives you the benefits of a GUI + CLI-style control.

Brett Miller

@millerb.co.uk

7 July 2025

www.powershelluniversal.com Is an effective middle ground and fully customisable

powershelluniversal.comPowerShell Universal | PowerShell UniversalThe ultimate command center for your PowerShell environment.

TapGhoul

@tapghoul.dev

7 July 2025

Excel is probably the closest thing to it, honestly. Ease of use built in for basic tasks, hilariously powerful tools that are easy to access beyond it. But I wouldn't say excel's UX for that is particularly ideal, just that it seems to work.