Why use the command line?

In my Lambda School, cohort, we are learning the basics of git/github. Github actually has a very friendly GUI desktop app, but a lot of git actually assumes you are using the command line (specifically the command line on a *nix machine). I’ll get into some details about the *how* of the command line in a bit, but I think it’s interesting to very briefly address the *why* of the issue.

The command line allows an experienced user to have an “in-depth”/unabastracted level of control over their machine.

So, what the heck do I mean by that? I watch a lot of autosports, and I think a car metaphor is very apt here: the GUI is to an automatic transmission, as the command line is to a stick shift/manual. That is, for a casual user (going to the grocery store, or just browsing Facebook), the manual transmission (or the CL) is an annoying, difficult-to-understand, complication. They just want it simple, and they have no use for that low-level of control. For an experienced user, however (basically any race car uses manual of some sort; and, I think similarly, most experienced computer users know at least a bit of CLI stuff), the extra level of control allows them to use the machine to its fullest capabilities.

There are some other good arguments for using the command line, and I might also touch on those later. Feel free to offer pointers (to those reasons, or to books/articles that offer those reason) in the comments.