Long live the command line: access Google Calendar
It's clear there's a core group of computer enthusiasts who still love the command line, 1984 Apple advertisements notwithstanding.
Ever notice that most screenshots intended to show off Linux user interface bling still sport a terminal window, usually with some green text on a black background? Or that one of the shiny new technologies coming out of Microsoft is the scripting and command environment called Monad? (It's officially called Windows PowerShell, but I like Monad better.)
The latest example of new-meets-old: the gcalcli command-line interface to Google's online calendar application. It's an open-source utility that lets people read and update Google calendars--either their own or shared ones.
Sure, a lot of people like to point and click, and this whole Internet thing got a big kick in the pants in the 1990s when the World Wide Web put a slick interface on a previously textual experience. But there is a lot of utility to be had from command lines when it comes to programming.
Text is the most flexible programming medium for whipping up scripts to automatically check a calendar at a specified time of the day. You also can show agenda items automatically in a system monitor such as Conky or quickly add calendar items from the command line without having to fire up a Web browser.
Broadcom programmer Eric Davis released the first public version of the software on Monday, and he's updated it once already. It's released under the MIT License and requires Python programming tools and some Python extensions to be installed.
(Via LifeHacker)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank.
