A long time ago, there was this misconception that "linux" was terminal-only. You know, like the interface sysadmins and Hollywood hackers use.

A small long-defunct non-tech forum I used to be a member of had a tech sub-forum, and in that sub-forum there was a new post one day introducing "linux" and covering some basics. It was full of DE screenshots (GNOME 2 and KDE 3) specifically to dispel the "terminal-only" misconception.

That was almost ~20 years ago. And the rest is history. I never liked Windows or M$ anyway for both technical and non-technical reasons. So it wasn't that hard to convince me.

I almost exclusively use the terminal for everything except web browsing now, and don't use a DE. So you could say that I myself ironically became a perpetuator of the misconception 😉