I think you're asking two questions. Why would sys admin use a cli? Think about it this way, what if instead of letters your keyboard came already attached with

I think you're asking two questions. Why would sys admin use a cli? Think about it this way, what if instead of letters your keyboard came already attached with words you can use instead? That's the best analogy to the difference between the gui and the cli I can come up with. It's just 2 APIs, but the latter is generally more complete, faster and offers more control. As to why people are considered "hard core" when they use the cli, it must have to do with the (somewhat false) notion that one must have a special kind of mind to be able to remember all these commands. Most cli users know that they're not geniuses, they just had the patience to go through a tutorial or read parts of the manual. Then they repeatedly used a small set of commands that they need almost daily and that stuck to long term (or muscle) memory. Over time they took some notes when they encountered handy but seldom used commands. They've done this for many many years with many many tools. Look over their shoulders as their little fingers do their thing and mistake their craft for wizardry.