Idea about generic command framework for launching common applications

[Darren Fulton]

Like many system administrators, I started with UNIX and Linux using the
command line interface.  I have for several years also been a Linux
desktop user.   I have a simple idea that will, in my opinion, improve
desktop usability for so-called "power users" without hurting ordinary
users.

I think it would be easier to launch applications if you had the option
to run the default application of a particular type from a short,
generic, plain language command.

The main reason why this would be useful is because, as a computer user,
you are not necessarily going to know the name of a program installed on
the computer that you are using that will do what you want. It isn't
silly that we have dozens of text editor programs. What _is_ silly is
that we don't necessarily know what command is used (or where in the
program menu you need to click) to launch a text editor program. I'm not
suggesting that the names of existing programs be changed.

I am suggesting that it would be nice if, for example, you were logged
into a KDE session on some random computer and you entered "text-editor"
into the "Run Command..." box or in a terminal session, it would launch
a text editing program such as kwrite or gedit or whatever the user's
default text editor is. This could be implemented with symbolic links or
the alternatives system or perhaps some other way.

Some examples of what default generic commands might be (in English)
are: text-editor file-manager email-client web-browser terminal
word-processor spreadsheet calculator sound-player sound-editor
image-editor image-viewer


Perhaps you could specify text-based and gui application preference by
running using "--tui" or "--gui". Not specifying a text or GUI option
would default to your current environment. For example, if the
"web-browser" command were given from an X session it would perhaps open
Firefox. If the same command were issued from the console, it would open
elinks. If the command "web-browser --tui" was given from within konsole
(KDE Terminal Program), elinks would open within konsole.

Of course there is nothing stopping administrators from implementing
this within their own organizations, as many I'm sure have done. But,
wouldn't it be nice if some basic commands worked cross-organization,
cross-distribution, and cross-platform?

To summarize: 1. It is sometimes useful to launch applications with a
command. 2. We often times don't know the name of the program that we
want to use. 3. A few simple generic command names could be useful,
especially to sophisticated users. 4. I'm not suggesting that we force
users to use these commands and I'm not suggesting that clicking on
things (file icons and program shortcuts) in order to open apps isn't a
great method.

Please let me know your thoughts and thank you for your time.

--
Best Regards,

Darren Fulton