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by simonh 1777 days ago
Are Windows, Linux and MacOS really better platforms for lots of tasks, performed by mainstream and professional users for daily tasks, principally because they are used to pipe text between command line tools? This is delusional.

I have good news, iOS user's productivity woes are solved. Using iSH you can pipe text between command line tools all day every day. Finally the power of the iPad is unleashed!
2 comments
imiric 1777 days ago
This must be sarcasm... There's much more to being productive with an OS than piping text on the command line in an emulated and highly restricted environment. The command line is a management interface to the OS, not a sandbox you get to play in with the tools the manufacturer allows you to.

I would like seamless interoperability between CLI and GUI apps, a unified file system, the ability to run virtual machines, containers[1] or maybe just nginx[2].

And then you have the usability issues of the iPad(OS) like external displays being mirrored only, or only recently being able to actually access files from a USB drive...

The iPad is a great media consumption device, that has some limited professional use (art, video editing maybe), but let's not fool ourselves that it's anywhere near being a replacement for a fully functional computer.

[1]: https://github.com/ish-app/ish/issues/63

[2]: https://github.com/ish-app/ish/issues/137

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flohofwoe 1777 days ago
The text piping is just one small part and not the most important, instead its about sharing and processing any type of data with small tools that can be combined like lego blocks (and if there isn't the right lego block for a problem you can build your own). The UNIX shell is just one very primitive implementation of that idea (and yet it's still much more powerful than anything we have on iOS or Android).

In the "mobile app ecosystem", each application is more or less an island. It would be possible to achieve something similar on iOS/Android devices, but the entire "value proposition" of walled garden ecosystems isn't compatibel with this idea of open and creative computing. One prerequisite is that I actually own my device and can do anything I want with it, without the platform owner getting in the way.

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simonh 1777 days ago
On iOS now we have all the same interchange mechanisms between applications we have on desktop. Decent file management, rich content cut-and-paste, side-by-side applications. Share sheets are great.

The main limitation is the interaction model, and that's just down the the mechanics of touch interfaces. Firstly fingers are imprecise big fat squishy blobs. Secondly the tablet form factor doesn't afford a large physical keyboard. These are the impediments and they're just facts of the form factor. the new multi-tasking interface in iPadOS looks like a great step forward, but it's always an issue.

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