@Nergal
A LOT has changed in the past 6 years. Not sure if you noticed my comment earlier in this thread, but I have my mom on Ubuntu 16 (Unity even) and she uses it just fine, daily. She doesn't change much, but had to install VLC by herself...which she was able to do through the software manager in the GUI. No CLI needed for her, at all. Like in situations with Windows where you can, CLI is faster usually (when you know the syntax)...in Linux its that much more powerful because you can install so many pieces of software directly at the command-line.
Honestly, now-a-days in most situations for basic users, CLI isn't necessary even in Linux with Ubuntu and Mint at least in my recent experience with them. Ubuntu 16 and Mint 18 have been pretty damn solid, smooth, and easy to do a lot more from the GUI with.
Linux isn't aiming to take all of Windows or OSX users, but its offering those that are curious a chance to try it out, and anyone that can Google even halfway decently can find someone else that has been in that situation and how to fix it...even using copy and paste most of the time if/when terminal is required. Honestly I don't think that's too shabby.
Most folks will go the path of least resistance, which is where OSX and Windows come in, and always will. Do I think Linux will match them in the UI arena? No..maybe a couple of flavors will come close...and some IMHO are pushing that envelope more and more with each passing update. But that's not the point of it...the point is having more access and control.
For those that need simplicity, that's what SteamOS is supposed to be for. Fire it up, browse the web, listen to some music and play games from your Steam collection. I hope it keeps going, because it has helped make some more strides for Linux gaming...and honestly if a Windows gamer can overclock, flash graphics card or main board BIOS from CLI, a few terminal commands isn't going to be that bad. Some folks it won't click with, some it'll take a little bit before it does and others will take to it right away.
In the end though, don't base your experienced opinions off of a 16 or 6 year-old experiences...you really should consider trying Linux again now. Even if just to see how it works...fire it up on a USB HDD, or dual boot or even spin up a VM and go that route (though be advised Hyper-V doesn't accelerate Unity so it won't be silky smooth until you change the GUI...which really is quite easy to do from terminal).
On the terminal aspect, there's a reason that OSX (which actually has a Linux derived terminal), Windows (CLI and Powershell) and Linux (terminal) all still have command line interfaces...and that's simply because sometimes that's the only place to get shit done. Have a corrupted Windows OS that is causing you grief but you can still get into...good luck fixing that in the GUI, which most of the time will find nothing wrong or cannot repair the issue...many of these same issues are easy to repair in CLI...using SFC and DISM commands. There's been a couple of terminal-only repairs I've had to run in OSX as well. And in Linux, while there is usually a GUI option for most things now...even when there is, terminal is still more efficient. And in many cases the same goes for Windows and OSX when you know how to use the commands.
People say "But it's 2016!!! We don't need CLI!!! GUI all the way!!!" the problem is even Windows 10 has some things that need done via CLI or Powershell...things you may or may not experience, but even it isn't bullet proof from the "Can't Linux devs get their shit together and make a GUI that does all that CLI does?!", well not even Microsoft can accomplish that...neither does OSX.
There's a reason most modern OSes, be it routers, switches, workstations, servers, ALL have a CLI access method and that's for very good reason. I can't count how many times I've had to fix a Windows issue in CLI...usually for people that are none-the-wiser on how to fix such an issue in the first place. There's been at least a dozen times on this forum where I've helped someone by providing them CLI commands for Windows they were able to run and get results...that's just me and I see a lot of experienced users around here doing the same for other users in need.
So while GUI's for all OSes involved in this conversation have improved, CLI is here to stay because sometimes the GUI fails and needs help, can't do it as efficiently or flat out can't do it. Honestly this is coming from a guy that mostly gave up CLI for many years after Windows 9x and XP, but once I got back into IT, learned how critical it really is to know them or know how to find the commands you need to resolve issues, print to a txt document to review logs, etc. Might not be something most users need, but when their system is screwed and they can't fix it, if there's a chance it can be fixed via CLI, it's usually worth doing.
