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Comment by dfc | Hacker News Reader

It has always seemed strange to me too. I have just always chalked it up to being an ubuntu thing.[1] I don't know if it has caught on in other distro-ecosystems but it seemed like it started with Ubuntu; which was peculiar because you do not have to deal with dependency hell--you have apt right there in that little black box!

The other ubuntu curiosity is installing `command-not-found` by default? I never thought you could have something worse than /usr/games/sl in your path, but then ubuntu introduced me to `command-not-found`.

[1] I say this as a 15+ year Debian user.

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I find `command-not-found``a lot more useful than `sl` (sl is some ascii animation that'll be shown for a short/long while if you write it).

Usually when I get to `command-not-found` it's something I haven't installed on a new system somewhere and I've found it helpful at times. It rarely annoys me.

From what I understand, "sl" was engineered to train new users into typing correctly, by putting them back on track to their final destination, instead of railroading them into promptly installing and running new commands. Only a fascist would force them to run on time.

What's bad about "command-not-found"? Surely, it is more useful than sl.

If I mistype something, it takes ages for command-not-found to search the entire Internet for “emacss” or whatever, during which I am slowly driven mad by the system punishing me and forcing me to wait.

Ah, that makes sense, the version on my machine runs off the local apt/dpkg database, so I was wondering why why you'd consider it worse than sl. (It does spew several lines of noise, but that's less of a problem when you have a sixty-somthing line terminal and barely a problem at all when you've got scrollback.)

What would you estimate is the ratio of typos versus "thought it was installed"? Personally mine is probably 1,000 to 1. If I type a command and bash says command not found I know the program is not installed. If I need that program I am a big boy and can use apt without anyone holding my hand.

It takes a couple of seconds to process if it's not cached.

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