this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Those are all true, but they also don't apply to the vast majority of computer users.
Most people don't need the speed of using only command line, especially when the programs they're working with aren't deeply tied to the command line. How is the command line gonna help a regular office drone writing up a new resume? It would be far easier and quicker for them to do it in Microsoft Office instead of spending hours learning how to do it with CLI.
Absolutely you can get more fine-grained information from the CLI, but for the vast majority of users, they won't need to.
Literally almost no regular person has even heard of SSH or will ever need a reason to use it. It's great that it's helpful to us, but I can think of zero reasons most people would need this knowledge for.
You can also install a lightweight version of an OS for this, without needing to just dump to the CLI. Agreed that Windows doesn't really have a light version, but this is also not a necessity. If you're using a system that's old enough to get bogged down by watching a YouTube video, that's kind of a side effect of using such old hardware. In most cases people will have modern enough hardware for this to not be an issue or something the average computer user needs to know. Because most people aren't doing massively demanding tasks on their computers (unless they left a lot of apps open).
It's a great flexibility to have as a developer or as a sysadmin, it's honestly practically a requirement for both.
All of these are super valuable to people who work with computers daily. My hairdresser doesn't give a shit and just wants a computer that functions without confusing them because they went to school for hairdressing not PC maintenance.
I get what you're saying, but you're acting like these things are a lot more valuable to the average user than they really are. They're way more important for people working in the industry, not so much people who just have a computer for writing emails, drafting resumes, and browsing the web.