When you want to use Linux, you do so in two ways. You either use the command-line interface and type out every single command, or you use the graphical user interface. However, there is a third way, and it's not talked about as much because it never had enough time to pick up steam.
The Third Way is the text user interface, a.k.a., the TUI. The TUI experience is text-only, but is more approachable than the command line, despite technically being run inside of a CLI session. And because it doesn't require services like X11 or Wayland on the lower level, it frees up even more RAM for the system to use, while still giving an accessible UX.
You typically see it used in isolation: htop/btop, Midnight Commander, and distro installers like archinstall and slackinstall. What we've never seen is a unifying system that treated the TUI itself as the primary user experience. I think, in 2026, it's time to consider making the TUI a first-class UX for *nix OSs.
Of course, there are drawbacks. A/V and graphics editing are out of scope, but modern-day web browsing could still be done. Gaming is mostly stuck to emulation. But the limitations are what make this "The Third Way": Of course the actual experience is going to have its differences, and is obviously more geared toward uses that don't involve graphics.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing