You are likely too biased in the Windows world, which is exactly what HN is not (probably! I have no data to prove that, just a hunch based on the discussions I took a part of on HN).
However, none of my colleagues in hardware design really know UNIX--neither junior nor senior.
And what's with the downvoters in this thread? Stop downvoting people because you disagree with them--COMMENT, DAMMIT.
I'm beginning to suspect that the HN "You're posting too fast" limit gets hit too quickly and people can only upvote/downvote so they default to that.
I agree with you that downvotes are useless when one simply disagrees and don't help the author or the reader learn. With the "flag" feature though, I am not sure I see the point of downvoting at all (other than when someone repeats the same disproven argument in the thread): upvoting is there to indicate "me too", but any such thing turns into a popularity context.
When someone says "beginner", I never think of someone who already knows the Unix command line.
I've been doing this for far too many years, and I'm struggling to think of anybody I know who does FPGA work and knows the UNIX command line--even among the experienced hands.