this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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That gets a lot of people in trouble and I really advise against giving people terminal commands when it can be avoided. Unless the person already is familiar with the terminal, they're just typing magic words into a black box and it reinforces the stereotype that Linux is this complicated and arcane thing.
And that's OK. It does get them to open the term and see it and use it a little - copy/pasta is how we all started out. (Truth is, I still copy/pasta after more than 20 years should perhaps need) But that does not negate the GUI experience. I like and use the GUI every time I can.
But I understand the need for the Cli too. I can often use it to better see where a problem is. Something my GUI lovin' lazy butt doesn't always do.
It's more complicated to describe how to do something in a gui and it will only work for one environment if it's set up the same way.
Yeah, the terminal is much more universal on Linux distros.
People will have wildly different GUI environments. I have no idea how to do thing X in all of KDE Plasma or GNOME or Xfce or Cinnamon or whatever. But outside of package management and some systemwide config, most Linux distros work pretty much the same way at a bash prompt.
And GUI feels like black magic too if the person doesn't know what's going on.
Yes, but at least they will understand the solution.
You can also just compile a script that they just have to execute, but they will understand even less and are way more likely to install malware.
Command line is easier for the person giving it but it teaches nothing to the person using it and I agree with the previous poster, just reinforces the idea that Linux is this mysterious non-understandable os. Many knowledgeable people in the community love to gatekeep so it works out in their favor and no one else's.
Does this one have a soul?
Nope.
Is it? I usually chain names of buttons or something like that:
File - Create - From templates
That's nice, right until you have to troubleshoot why the other person is having difficulty following the instructions. My not-entirely-but-still-mostly-strawman scenario (specifically with the RPi Imager) where that approach fails:
I had to have this conversation with myself. Conducting it over an internet forum with a stranger of questionable technical skills is my definition of hell.
One simple command vs:
Go to your start menu
Search for program name
Click on it
Scroll down about half way
Click the
Enter
Click the
Click the in the popup
And if that's done in Gnome, does it help a KDE user, Xfce, Mate? I think not. And that's if the gui handles the problem at all.
Of course, the command comes with an explanation of what it does.
One "simple" command that could do anything including killing their entire PC vs detailed instructions of something they can follow and understand, especially if you include pictures.
If you want people in your community, treat them with respect.
Trolls, who like to corrupt people's data, exist. A GUI procedure is almost always safer.
Tell me how to gather this information from the GUI. Plasma for preference please.
Not that I particularly want to get involvedβI do also like
inxiβbut you can launch Info Center (kinfocenter) fromkrunner, the application menu, or under About this System in System Settings to get a good amount of this information and more.Info Center is good, but getting the information into a forum post isn't easy. With inxi, it's just copy and paste. Just one simple example where the terminal is better.
I don't know, it isn't that hard for me to help others with UI. π€·
What if the person you're helping has a different UI language? Or when buttons get hidden based on available screen space? Or when you need to get an older person to use a dropdown menu with hover and click options?
Sure it's doable, but it's so much easier to just copy and paste a command. Of course, whenever I tell someone to do something like this, it comes with a lot of warnings about the shell. If they're close enough I just tell them to never run a random command without consulting me first.
Very often you want the other person to learn (memorize) the way to do something.
And most of the time that person (in my experience) is an elder being or something, so they prefer UI and I don't want to die on a hill of making them relearn their ways.
After all, what use are detailed instructions and explanations?