This is something I’m kinda racking my head around. Something I hear a lot in the context of switching to Linux, is that people don’t want to use it because of some preconceived notion that they’d need to use the terminal (or Command Prompt) for everything.

I wouldn’t say everything needs it, nowadays, unless you need to do something a bit esoteric. I think this notion probably stems not just from how Linux was in the 2000s, but places like r/unixporn which are heavily biased towards the terminal and how some people in the community act when people say they don’t want to use it. But I’m also aware that I’m not the average person, I can work my way around a terminal if I need to, so my judgement will admittedly be clouded.

Whenever Microsoft patches out a bypass of a particular restriction (tends to be the online account requirement, Microsoft just stop trying to make it happen – it’ll never happen), Linux users tend to whinge about how people are using the terminal or the Registry Editor to bypass it. And that leads me to believe this: people don’t mind copy-pasting commands into a terminal or going deep into the OS if it helps them Get Shit Done, which is probably why people are a bit more comfortable going step-by-step through the registry to disable the requirement for online accounts or following a macro furry’s guide to getting free extended support for Windows 10. The goal in these two cases is to go back to Getting Shit Done, as quickly as possible. For me, I could probably use WordPress’ official command line program to manage my website, or I could simply stop using WordPress and go for a static site generator, but its easy to use GUI helps me Get Shit Done for my website, quicker. If, in this hypothetical scenario, the user makes the switch to Linux, that still takes time to learn and if people need Windows for work, they simply don’t have the time to do that or to think about whether the app they need for their job will support Linux or work in WINE or whatever. It’s also why Mac has seen an uptick, since a lot of big-name apps for Windows tend to also have a version for macOS, and there’s generally some sort of quality guarantee. On Linux, that isn’t always the case unless the app is essentially a glorified web app, such as Discord or Spotify.

I think DankPods says it best in his Linux video: A GUI is great if you’re not sure exactly if you know what the thing you want is called, the terminal is great when you know exactly what you want and what that command is. Whether you’re fluent with coreutils or just copy-pasting commands to try and stop Windows from being crap, if you know what you want then it’ll work better. I’ll say I’m still quite proficient with the Linux terminal, and while I’ve heard a lot of praise for PowerShell, it’s something that still feels very foreign to me. I’ve never really gave myself the time to learn it and I don’t even bother since Microsoft does make it easier for Linux users to use PowerShell, by linking Linux commands to their Windows/PowerShell equivalents. There are also programs that can provide a Linux-esque experience such as lsd which is a Rust rewrite of the ls command (that lists files in the folder you’re in) that works on Windows. It’s fun to say you’re using lsd. 🥴

For those not really into tech, if you’re scared of or simply don’t want to use the terminal, I get it. It can be a learning cliff rather than a learning curve, given it’s an entirely different way of doing things. If by extension you’re not sure if Linux is for you, look at running it in VMware or VirtualBox, both free tools that allow you to run it in a “virtual machine” (basically, a computer inside a computer). If you have a spare machine, mess with it on there. Then, you can see if it suits you or not.