Of course, I could say the same thing about the absolute FEAR of the command line. There's nothing an ls command can do to hurt, and in the end they might just learn something. There is also no reason, really, to decide that your way is SOOOO much better than someone else's that you decide to question not just why they bother to do something differently, but why they even bother to own a Mac. So ridiculous, and really so pretentious that I'm flabbergasted. There are always multiple solutions to these types of issues, habits, workflow etc etc all play into it. At least a reasonable solution was provided.
I think we're coming at the same conclusion from different perspectives. My point, too, was that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and that what works for one does not necessarily work for another. You risk treating every problem as a nail just because you happen to have a big, powerful hammer in your hand.
One of the hardest things for experts and enthusiasts in a field to understand is that most people are not experts, don't need to be experts, and really do have other priorities besides maximizing their skills in a particular obscure field. This is not fear or laziness on their part. Sometimes, the quick and dirty solution is just fine, and sometimes the best way to help is to suggest that quick and dirty solution. Always suggesting your favorite solution, without considering who the user is or what his priorities are, no matter how much more efficient/powerful/speedy your solution might be, is the height of pretentiousness.
You do not have to make every question a "teachable moment." Now, if the user comes back and asks for a more powerful/efficient/speedy solution...then, by all means, put on your professor's hat.
I would not want to perpetuate any fear of the command line. But if you have a Mac, you have other tools as well, including the most sophisticated GUI on the market. It's not just there to look pretty. If you ignore that, you’re only using half of the computer you paid for.