Taking command � why none should fear the command line

"Open a Terminal. Three words that are enough to send Windows users scurrying back to Microsoftland. But why, wonders Linux User & Developer's Simon Brew?

"I'm guessing that many of you hear this too. There you are, chatting to people about Linux, and why they don't use it, and sooner or later you'll stumble across one of the more regular answers. The Terminal window. That window of joy that to the untrained eye looks like we've gone back to the days of DOS, typing in laborious commands to get every job done.

"Of course, this kind of comment overlooks the fact that the evolution of GUIs has made it kind of redundant in the world of modern-day Linux, and the fact remains that if you choose your Linux distribution with a little care, you need never open a Terminal window in your life. However, even though many of us like to say that, there's still, festering away, the knowledge that in a more realistic world often the Terminal is the quickest way to get from A to B."

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