As a Windows user (embedded programming and gaming keeps me stuck to Windows) who has dabbled a bit in Linux over the last 10 years, the fact that GNU/Linux "assumes you know what you're doing" is constantly frustrating. I've overcome this somewhat by stopping my current linux install from automatically starting the xwindow system. That way I have to use the terminal for some things. This has worked somewhat, but seems only to highlight how terrible interface is for those of us who aren't wizards.

I like to phrase it as "Linux assumes you know what you're doing. Windows assumes you don't know what you're doing. Mac assumes you don't want to know what you're doing." Working in an interface that doesn't hold your hand can be liberating when you understand how that system works, but there must be a way we can step back.

Maybe it would be worth adding something similar to the drop-down auto-completion boxes I see in so many modern IDEs. That way instead of reading the man page of every single command and program, I can (for example) get a list of possible arguments, and each of those arguments provides a summary of its function when highlighted. This could all be done in text, so that it would be available outside of the window system. Maybe it has already been done.

Obviously such a system would be laborious to implement and obnoxious to seasoned bash users (though it should be easy to disable), but it would be extremely handy to those who (like me) only occasionally use Linux. In any case, something should be done that makes the system a little more welcoming to casual users.