I’ve read the article, “Why Mint's easy graphical interface is the worst thing for your Linux journey” and I have some counter arguments on the article. The article explains that if you don’t use the terminal which is one of the best features in the linux world, you are hurting your journey of being a linux user. I disagree with that because I believe that you don’t need to learn the terminal. The greatest feature of linux is its uniqueness or the “distros” created by other creators. A distro is a distribution of a software in this case, it’s linux. Linux is built for the user's needs. If you don’t like one distro then you can move to another distro. The whole point of the operating system (OS) is to get the computer to function the way you want it and for your workflow. A gamer doesn’t care about kali linux, a Fortune 500 company doesn’t care about SteamOS, and a regular user that wants an OS to just work doesn’t care about RHEL or CentOS Stream.
Proof of Concept
If we look at the majority of Windows and MacOS users, most of them probably don’t use cmd or the Terminal or even knew it existed. They just want to get work done without fighting the OS. If we look at users that choose graphical distros like Linux Mint or Ubuntu, they just want an alternative to Windows and MacOS. Those users choose the graphical distros because it’s a “beginner’s Linux distribution” to help you begin using linux. The point of those beginner-friendly distros is to prevent burnouts when migrating from Windows or MacOS. If you give ArchLinux to a user who is completely new to linux, they will leave on week 1. The beginner distros exist to reduce the amount of burnout when trying out linux. Many of those who know linux more expect new users to learn complicated distros like ArchLinux which is why linux still remains small. It’s like using Windows your entire life and suddenly your workplace replaces it with MacOS. Migrating is harder because they are different Operating Systems with different functions making your workflow difficult.
Graphical Distros Can Be a Positive for Your Linux Journey
Graeme Peacock, who is the author of both the Yahoo and How-To-Geek articles, says because he embraced harder problems, he learned how to do demanding projects. Those "demanding projects” are Docker, Linux deployments, full-stack development, etc. The author says without the hard challenge of ArchLinux, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the demanding projects he had mentioned. In paragraph 12, he mentioned how it benefited him by taking on the harder challenge, “Arch Linux gradually led me to more demanding projects”. Is he wrong about taking harder challenges to lead to growth? No, he isn’t wrong. It’s how we grow and become a better version of ourselves. He says “Growth comes only through difficulty.” in paragraph 11.
However, he is wrong about graphical distros causing you to stagnate. When I was new to Linux, Linux Mint was the first Linux distro I ever tried. Over time, I started appreciating linux and loving linux more than Windows especially after Microsoft ended support for Windows 10. I got curious and wanted to learn more about Linux. It's how I discovered companies like Pine64 and Framework exist. If I was still a Windows user, I would’ve never found out about Framework or Pine64 because I didn’t see it in a retailer like BestBuy or Microcenter. I also tried other distros like Ubuntu and Debian to see how it differs from Mint.
So, based on my experiences with graphical distros, Graeme Peacock is wrong. He said you need to embrace challenges to continue the linux journey you’ve built. While this is true, he got it in the wrong order. You start simple and then work your way up.
It's like giving a bunch of kindergarteners geometry equations and expecting them to suddenly become professors at Harvard. Instead, you start simple and work your way up. You start with simple equations like 1+1, and progress from there. You go to elementary, middle, and high school, working your way up to college. It's small steps at a time.
Graeme Peacock says, “Growth comes only through difficulty.” but in my opinion, growth only comes through difficulty if you do it correctly. That’s why it doesn’t matter if you use a graphical distro or not, it all depends on your effort to expand your linux journey.
In Conclusion
I’ve already explained why graphical distros are progress and not stagnation. Linux is a wonderful piece of software. For those who want to be more accustomed to linux but don’t know where to begin, it's best to start with the graphical distros then expand the journey if you want to. But really, it’s all up to you on how you want to start with linux. If you want to learn the terminal, you can but if not, then don’t feel pressure about learning it. We are all different and learn at a different pace in a different way.
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