>You are right it has some warts, but if a file is really that absolutely critical I make a .bak copy of it before I start my work This seems to miss the point

>You are right it has some warts, but if a file is really that absolutely critical I make a .bak copy of it before I start my work This seems to miss the point completely, unless you back up your entire hard disk before running every command. The whole problem is it's easy to nuke things you weren't intending to touch, accidentally. The user-hostility of the shell is not a required feature to achieve its power. All of the advantages you cite could be had without being a terrible footgun with human factors mired in 1970s computing culture.