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   From: "Mike Easter"    
   Newsgroups: alt.os.linux.ubuntu   
   References:  <87   
   49yz6go.fsf@geemail.com>    
    <45d9d140$0$97277$892e7fe   
   @authen.yellow.readfreenews.net>    
   Subject: Re: Editing menu.lst   
   Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:17:53 -0800   
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   X-Trace: DXC=k76HI8Nl``Gm9[WKoTD2jJ]AGWjF5PjPI465Ue@WB_5O?Y Mike Easter enlightened us with:   
      
      
   >>> I want to edit the file menu.lst,    
      
   >>> I opened the terminal and typed edit boot/grub/menu.lst preceded by   
   >>> sudo, gksudo, sudo nano, etc.  and none of them worked.  Can   
   >>> someone tell me the proper command to edit this file and save it   
   >>> after editing?   
   >>   
   >> One of the reasons some of us who grew up with GUI for the past 20+   
   >> years absolutely hate commandlines.   
   >   
   > Not being able to edit a file doesn't have anything to do with using a   
   > GUI or not.   
      
   Yes, it does in this example's imaginary gui extension.  The GUI user   
   would just click navigate to the file.   
      
   The reason the problem arose in the first place was because the   
   commandline user doesn't have the directories/folders and paths in front   
   of hir eyes to navigate to.  It could also be done with a menu driven   
   context, it doesn't have to be graphical, just not commandline.   
      
   > One of the problems with a GUI is that it's very hard to point at   
   > something that isn't there.   
      
   .... and that is also an advantage, ie a two-edged sword.  When the   
   seeker doesn't see the file/folder/directory which s/he is seeking, s/he   
   should/would click up some alternate pathways and hunt it down, not   
   create a new one in this instance.   
      
   > In a terminal, I can say "edit file XYZ"   
   > even though that file doesn't exist yet -   
      
   That is both an advantage and a disadvantage.  Look what happened here   
      
      
   User wrote:   
   >   sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.list brings up an empty file. Now what do   
   > I do? What should I type in the empty file? Should I save menu.list   
   > as an empty file?   
      
      
   The commandline approach is leading User to be working on the wrong   
   file.  If ace or User were navigating around to find the menu.lst file,   
   that wouldn't be happening.   
      
   > it will exist once I save   
   > it. Starting an editor with an empty file that is automatically saved   
   > to the correct location is simply impossible with a GUI.   
      
   The menu or gui user who needs to create a new file starts with the   
   content of the unnamed file and then gives it a name and path using the   
   menu or gui to navigate and the filename field to name it.   
      
      
   --    
   Mike Easter   
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