Nice article. I agree with your remarks. As a relative newbie to Linux (fall, 2006 with Ubuntu 6.04 back then I think Now I use Ubuntu 7.10,) I'm gradually adjusting my attitude and am finding I like the CLI to simply find things out. Example of the command I used recently: 'sudo sane-find-scanner' (It turned out my scanner doesn't have a useful Linux driver of any sort. I can accept that since I have a kind of weird, orphan scanner anyway.) The bottom line for me is that the CLI is a great feature when I just want particular info.

I originally had the incorrect perception that to run a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu, that I would have to occasionally use the CLI to fix fundamental issues. (That line of thinking delayed my use of Linux probably by 6 months.) Not so I found out. Basic things simply just worked just after the install of Ubuntu from a CD-ROM. What a relief. It worked immediately.

Am I scared and continue to have a fundamental respect of the Command Line Interface? You bet because of some very hard lessons I learned when using DOS in the Windows environment. I don't want to delete or change critical stuff--particularly if I don't know how to reverse the process. But outside of operating in root mode, there's not too much chance of that. CLI is so much better in Linux than DOS was in Windows, I'm just thrilled at the many opportunities for doing things better. Every day I learn a new way to get things done.

The CLI is terrific--and I can now use it directly to compile some old C++ source files. (They actually ran properly which made my day. Last time they did run properly was under Windows 98 with a Turbo version of some sort over 4 years ago.) So my fears are dissipating, though my cautious respect of the power of the CLI remains.

I'll never be a true geek using CLI, but for base level practical stuff I'm an eager student--quite a mind shift for a 68-year old.