TL;DR -Yes Virginia, You Can Use Linux Without Going to the Command Line.
Nearly a year ago, I watched a video on YouTube explaining the flaws of Windows 10 and the advantages of using the Linux. It started me down the rabbit hole of a becoming a Linux user. I’ve been using Windows since 3.1 so you can imagine how the ride to using Linux started out-bumpy and confusing as all hell!
Still, I’ve no regrets and I love where Linux has taken me so far. I’m not into programming or coding in today’s parlance, but I am into progress and options and Linux with its many distros offers that in spades! Slowly but surely, I’m learning how the OS works and I see where it can lead (Spoiler Alert: it’s a good place).
In addition to being a Linux noob, I tend to be an idealist and I’d love to see others discover what I have. A dream of mine is to see Linux side by side with Windows and MacOS as a popular daily driver-it would offer choice to users, ownership, efficiency and not cost an arm or leg to have it. It would also encourage innovation to mainstream OS developers who’ve rested a bit too long on their laurels in my humble opinion, but I digress.
Thing is, Linux is not as easy to get into compared to Windows or Mac. There are a few reasons why this is but one of them that I want to point out is the ‘Scare Factor’, one scare being the unholy beast known as ‘The Command Line’ or ‘Terminal Window’. A potential adopter sees that pop up window, a blinking cursor in a sea of blackness waiting for a command they don’t know, imagine they see a Grue lurking in that blackness and skip away with a hearty ‘Nopety Nope Nope!’.
If you’re here on the ‘Linux for Everyone’ site or YouTube channel, likely you’ve seen quite a few article headings about the Command line and how awesome it is. They’re not wrong-the Terminal is awesome if you know how to use it. Enter scare factor and watch the slow retreat of the potential user begin. So, I thought I’d write this up to let other would-be Linux adopters know that this Linux noob can get by daily on Linux without having to go to the command line.
Nearly all available Linux distros, like the other OS’s of choice, feature a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows new users to get up and running even if you don’t know Terminal commands. One of the greatest strengths of a GUI interface is that users new to a platform have illustrated paths (I.E. Menus, Sub Menus) they can follow to try and get where they want to go. Sure, a Linux GUI is not the same as a Windows 10 GUI or a MacOS GUI…but they are GUI’s and just about every computer user knows how to make their way around one.
The command line or terminal window isn’t as friendly as a GUI. The cursor sits there at the prompt, waiting for commands and if you don’t know what commands do what, it’ll blink away at you, as if mocking your ignorance. It’s like being at the entrance to a dark cave where a Linux guru gave you a flashlight, some odd directions and a cheery ‘Good Luck!’. You don’t want to go in there right? Because…Grues! The comfort of Windows 10 and its totalitarian attitude isn’t so bad now is it? Yes it is, but that’s another article.
So, is the command line beyond the power of mere mortals? Hell no! If you’ve read the articles or watched the videos, the command line is the font of god like power in the Linux OS. What could take several menus and mouse clicks to do in a GUI can be done in a sentence of commands, no fuss no muss! The trick is, you need to learn the commands and once you do that, you’re Neo in the Matrix and you can do that Superman thing too!
Bringing this to a close, if you’re interested in using Linux for a daily driver, there’s a GUI interface waiting to help show you the way to do your daily computing things (Web surfing, emails, Linux videos, etc. etc.). If you want more, when you’re ready to take that flashlight, go into that cave and find the font of Ultimate Power, it’ll be there waiting for you-just remember to check the Interwebs for the ‘How To’s’ to make the discovery easier…And watch out for the Grues!😉
