The CLIophobia of the Linux Newbie

[ Thanks to James
Maguire for this link. ]

“We really know, deep down, that between the mouse and
the desktop there’s a great deal of electronics controlled by
sophisticated programs, but until something misbehaves we’ve no
reason to think about it. Even if something does go wrong, there’s
often some other GUI equivalent of a switch or a faucet that we can
tweak or turn to bring things back to normal.

“But what are we to make of the CLI? Where is the real-world
precedent for it, the place in everyday experience where we can
achieve control over a physical event simply by using words? You
might think of the equations of motion, or quantum mechanics, or
electromagnetic theory, but that’s nowhere near the same — the
power that equations give you is simply the ability to predict an
outcome, not to make it actually happen. That’s an important
distinction.”

Complete
Story