I don't think that, with modern distros and managers like synaptic, one needs commandline except when the GUI fails somehow which is rare. I heard about Ubuntu 7 too. The only thing I can think of is adding repositories etc, but that can be added by logging in as root GUI-cally and then editing via editors like gedit.
But yea, I use terminal more than GUI applications sometimes where it makes ur computing faster and much better. Like u got 1000 files containing php,html etc, u can simply open terminal from nautilus windows in that directory and type the remove command with paramater "*.html", instead of selecting the "show by type first" and then selecting them via mouse slowly.
Yea its no rocket science. Just like commercies have the notion that science is more tough and some even opting for commerce just becoz of the myth that science is taken by nerds and people with inferiority complex and shy to socialise, similarly some people just pretend that they r more cool that they just want hifi fancy stuff and no terminal. I guess that terminal-phobia is illogical and spreads in the mind of only those people who think computing is all about gaming,watching porn,music,staring at the beautiful GUI and doing nuthing.
Learning is never a waste. Kids and gals most often don't like to understand the mechanics of car and later cry and call for help when it gets stuck on a highway. Atleast they shud learn how to change the tyres. The same is case with Linux, if GUI fails somehow u can always correct it via commandline without restarting the PC.
The +point is that the network/internet gets established before the GUI even starts and u can surf the net even in such case.
But with the amount of guides available these days, a simple cut and paste could always help recover things rather than reformat like they do for thier Windows.
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