I spend most of my time in the terminal.
Even if there are ways to solve problems in the GUI, I will always use the terminal to diagnose/fix problems. And the simple reason for that is - because the terminal is the quickest, easiest and most direct method to diagnose/fix almost all problems.
And whenever anybody posts a problem here, I will almost always post a terminal based solution because it’s much quicker to recommend a few simple terminal commands than it is to post instructions for the GUI. GUI based instructions are always much more involved:
Click here to open a program, click there to open a menu, click through a bunch of sub-menus, go to settings, click on the such and such tab, check settings X,Y and Z, go to another tab, check settings A and B, sacrifice a packet of peanut M&Ms to the elder gods, click here, click there, turn off the toaster, blah blah blah……
However, whenever I post a terminal based solution, I usually explain what each part of the commands do, so anybody can learn from the post.
Another common problem with GUI front-ends for terminal based commands is:
They often only implement a sub-set of the most useful functionality. They don’t always implement ALL of the functionality that the terminal based back-end provides.
So, the GUI front-end often only implements enough functionality to be useful for a narrow set of specific tasks.
So, if you need to do something slightly different, or more specialised - then in order to gain more fine tuned control and to use ALL of the functionality of the back-end, you might just have to use the terminal anyway!
And to any new Linux users reading this:
The terminal isn’t something to be scared of. It’s the most powerful set of tools you have on your system. Even for non technical users - if you use Linux based operating systems, it’s worth learning about the many powerful tools you have at your disposal in the terminal. And the many ways that they can be combined to perform all kinds of tasks!