The Real Reason Linux Users Love The Command Line

When I started my own Linux journey, I was adamant about not even touching a terminal window. As if the command line was this diseased, disgusting thing. “If I can’t do it with a GUI then I’m not even interested in this distro!” I’d say stubbornly. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136892 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136893 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136896 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136897 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136899 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136900 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136901 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136902 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136903 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136904 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136906 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136907 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136911 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136912 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136913 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136915 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136916 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136917 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136918 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136919 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136926 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136929 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136931 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136932 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136933 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136935 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136936 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136939 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136941 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136943 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136944 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136945 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136946 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136948 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136950 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136952 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136954 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136955 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136956 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136957 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136964 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136966 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136967 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136968 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136970 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136971 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136972 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136973 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136974 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136975 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136976 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136977 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136978 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136979 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136981 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136983 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136984 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136985 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136987 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136988 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136990 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136991 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136992 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136995 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136997 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/136998 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137000 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137001 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137002 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137003 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137005 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137006 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137008 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137009 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137010 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137012 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137013 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137016 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137017 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137018 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137019 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137020 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137021 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137027 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137029 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137030 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137031 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137032 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137033 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137034 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137035 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137036 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137037 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137039 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137041 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137042 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137043 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137044 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137045 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137046 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137047 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137048 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137049 https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/137050 I’d get visibly upset when stumbling across all these tutorials online that use command line instructions when far easier (in my eyes) graphical approaches exist. Why on earth were these guys showing us how to make an application executable using the command line? Why not just find it in your file manager, right click it, select “properties,” go to the permissions tab, and check the appropriate box to make it executable? That seemed more intuitive… to me. Or maybe it was just what felt “correct” after two decades of Windows. Making a bootable USB stick with the command line? Launching a terminal window to install a driver or encode a video with ffmpeg? ARE YOU INSANE? That was nearly 3 years ago, and my stance has gradually shifted under the weight of experience. But my early computing days bear a striking resemblance to Oliver '0lzi' Kelly’s: “I spent 20 years using Windows, and the only time that stands out from when I used the command line was to ping an IP address or google.com to test and diagnose network issues. In Linux I use it all the time, and I don’t even second guess it.”