Quoting Graham Klyne
Finally, as evidence for this view of user interfaces, I note that for tasks like computer system administration, graphical interfaces have pretty much taken over from the old command-line-and-text-file approach. Even Linux systems have graphical front-ends for most of the common configuration, even though, for an experienced sysadmin, ...
In short, it's the occasional user, not the full-time expert, who may be better served by a non-textual approach.
I don't think the Linux developments are really evidence of anything other than a desire to have a more Windows-like interface, because that looks like it will make it easier for Linux to penetrate certain markets, or because that's what the people who develop these interfaces are used to. My own experience -- as an occasional user of Linux, but familiar with BSD and able to use Macs without much trouble and even to tolerate Windows for limited purposes -- was that the graphical Linux interfaces were virtually unusable.