“In an effort to gauge what an easy-to-install-and-use Linux
means for the future of enterprise computing and the IT
professionals who manage it, TechRepublic interviewed the author of
Point & Click Linux, Robin Miller, and the chapter author for
the download that accompanies this article, Joe Barr.“[TechRepublic] As your book illustrates very
well, Linux has come a long way with regard to ease of installation
and use. However, Joe Barr’s chapter deals with the command line.
One general school of thought has been that once Linux moved from a
command-line alternative operating system to a more user-friendly
GUI OS, widespread adoption would be just around the corner. Will
the command line always be a necessary component of Linux?“[Robin Miller] The command line is no longer
necessary for desktop Linux users, but it’s great to have available
for users who want to move beyond the ‘Point and Click’ stage.
Remember, when something in a closed-source program or operating
system is broken or doesn’t work the way you want, you can’t fix
it, while with an open source program or operating system you
can–if you’re willing to take the time and trouble to learn how to
do it…”