
It is not fashionable nowadays to speak of the merits of the command line, in an age where things like streaming video and Aqua are an integral part of our daily life. However, I do not think that typed-in commands must necessarily be consigned to the dustbin of computer history. Of course, I am not suggesting that we all drop X and Windows and pretend like we are living in the early eighties. The command line interface still has much to offer us, and many of its benefits simply cannot physically be emulated or even replaced by graphical ones.
IMO, both are needed as neither suit all people or purposes. Why limit yourself to just one useful tool, when both can be provided? Some things are easier to do in CLIs than in GUIs, and there are other things that are easier to do in GUIs than in CLIs. It's just the way things work.