this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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The reliance on the terminal holds Linux back.
The second there’s a problem all the guides on how to get stuff configured or fix a problem start with… open Terminal. At that point your average user is asking for Windows.
I say this as someone with over twenty years of experience with Linux. Users hate command line interfaces.
I haven't been required to use the terminal for anything in years.
Honestly. I've been using Linux as my daily driver since the mid-2000's (Warty Warthog?), and the only times the terminal gets opened these days is through pure choice. Maybe 10 years ago I would agree with you.
As a recent Linux user, I can say that he's got a point, but he's making the wrong point. What I've learned is that technically, you don't have to use terminal. But as a new user, you're never made aware that there are non-terminals options. Every time you try installing a program or really doing anything, the first response on any article or forum is generally going to be to open up terminal and start typing. Linux is in a weird spot because the are so many desktop environments that the only way to make a tutorial that works on all distributions is to tell the user to use terminal. Yet by doing so, you are pushing away new users who will begin to think that Linux is too technical for normal use.
I see many experienced users dismiss new users' concerns because "you don't actually need terminal," but I don't think these people really understand that while that's technically true, the new user experience has been constant tutorials and articles that basically state the exact opposite. I'm not sure what a good solution would be, but I do think that experienced users need to acknowledge that just because new users identify an incorrect problem, doesn't mean that there isn't a problem at all
So the problem is crappy guides?
I was of the opinion that anything that suggested the terminal was purely for speed reasons.
Average Windows guide. Click here, dismiss the warning, click here, click here, close the advert, click next, type in 1, accept, reboot.
Average Linux guide, go to Gnome Tweaks, third option, type in 1, no reboot required. Or open a terminal and paste the following command.
It's precise, it's concise, and it's fast but it's not required.
I completely disagree. There is Gnome with 70% of the market, KDE with 30%, and then various hacked together desktops with <1%. Guides should be set up for Gnome because you stick with defaults if you are that scared, maybe a reference for KDE, and if you chose something else then your already in copy/paste commands territory.
There was no part of me setting up SteamOS on my couch PC that required a terminal, which is what we are talking about here.
Regardless of the reason, the end result is still the same, which is that new users are left with the idea that terminal is essential for using Linux.
You can say that you set up a distro without using terminal all you want, but as long as new users don't know how to do that, my point still stands. Frankly, the fact that you even thought to bring up that point feels like, to me, extra proof that experienced users are highly dismissive of the new user experience.
Exactly the advice no-one who is technically literate enough to try Linux will ever follow. “Just execute this random code you don’t understand. Trust me.”
Have you ever had to fix anything on Linux? Even asking for help on any forum gets you the response “paste this in your terminal and give us the result”.