Live data from Hacker News

Like Clippy but for the CLI

github.com

11–20 of 41 posts

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#12
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't ask how to install it, and made no reference to safety. I also do not have access to an Apple device where I could use brew.

Homebrew works well on Linux (or wsl2) these days if that helps.

You are missing the point.. I am not happy to install PHP on my local system, even php-cli. Finding ways to help me install it, doesn't meet the base requirement.

EDIT: Thanks teruakohatu for trying to help tho!

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#13
post #2

Given how much GPT models hallucinate perfectly realistic commands, this sounds super dangerous. "Hey, CLI Clippy thingy, how do I do (harmless activity)?" "rm -rf / --yes-do-what-I-say"

# rm -rf ./build

Clippy: would you like to delete /boot instead? [Y/n]

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#14
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Homebrew works well on Linux (or wsl2) these days if that helps.

You are missing the point.. I am not happy to install PHP on my local system, even php-cli. Finding ways to help me install it, doesn't meet the base requirement. EDIT: Thanks teruakohatu for trying to help tho!

> I also do not have access to an Apple device where I could use brew.

Sorry, just trying to help.

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#15
post #11

It’s weird to me that everyone is describing their AI helper as “Like Clippy for X!” Did we all forget that everyone hated Clippy?

I was expecting it to be an annoyance program that ran in the background and gave unhelpful suggestions.

Instead, I'm trying to figure out if I can use this at work.

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#16
post #11

It’s weird to me that everyone is describing their AI helper as “Like Clippy for X!” Did we all forget that everyone hated Clippy?

Clippy was some two decades ahead of its time. If they took the same design, but implemented it via GPT-4, the result would not only be genuinely useful, but likely superior to O365 Copilot - floating ambient-aware agent beats a chat sidebar.

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#19
post #6
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the hallucinations don't look like that, because rm -rf is a real command. a hallucinations is more likely to be something like "to export your tailacale config, try: tailscale export" but which unfortunately doesn't exist.

Unfortunately, I have seen GPT give a response equivalent to the insanity I described above; it gave a very real, very working answer that was extremely harmful and was entirely inappropriate for the question. `tailscale export` is probably the more common form of hallucinating, totally harmless wishful thinking that doesn't work.

Worst I've personally experienced so far is GPT-4 guiding me step-by-step on how to upgrade the Python version in my Ubuntu to something more recent - a process I then spent an hour undoing, after it broke apt (OS package manager), which led me to discover an obscure Stack Exchange post explaining you should never ever do that as Ubuntu relies (for some incomprehensible reason) on system Python being exactly the version it shipped with.

Re: Like Clippy but for the CLI

#20
post #11

It’s weird to me that everyone is describing their AI helper as “Like Clippy for X!” Did we all forget that everyone hated Clippy?

I loved clippy, and found it super helpful. Granted, I was a child and fascinated with the idea of artificial intelligence, which clippy was the closest thing to at that point in time. It was a useful tool, and it's at times irrelevant suggestions got me exploring things I would never have learned through school or casual exposure. All in all it was a fun, quirky, at times useful and all around great tool, just not for the target audience.
Post reply on HN