[devmach]

Have you asked them why they are started to writing a code in first place? Maybe, since it's a programming interview, they thought you are trying to measure their theoretical knowledge than their practical day to day knowledge.

You should probably reword your question and give a hint that a candidate can use any available tool. If it's a programming interview my first instinct would be writing a code, if it's a sysadm interview I would use available tools in the system.Context is important...