I suppose if you don't think of your phone as the general-purpose computer that it really is, then it won't seem obvious. But otherwise, I also recall using dig, netcat, traceroute, and a few other network tools a few times. Having a shell, even a root one, is one of those things that you don't need often, but when you do, you really do.
I mean I know what my phone is. I just do not want to use that interface for those sort of tasks. Tiny little screen, virtual keyboard that tries to hard to be clever, etc.
Even browsing the web to read wikis and documents and stuff is a complete pain half the time.
I'd hook it up to a proper display using an MHL cable then connect a Bluetooth keyboard. It was a sweet setup and the assorted tools (plus root shell) actually came in very handy. It could fill in for a laptop quite nicely.
These days it seems there's no legitimate alternative to MHL... can any phones directly connect to a display anymore via wire? Or is the only option screencasting to a smart TV?
FWIW, I generally like my appliances on the dumb (or open) side.
A lot of phones can be connected to an external display via USB-C. Better supported than MHL (how many incompatible standards was MHL? 4?).
Samsung has "Dex", their android desktop interface.
Linux phones can generally offer a full DE, either the pinephone or Librem, or compatible phones that have a video out where you can install something likke postmarketos.
Most phones also support miracast, and you can plug in a mouse/keyboard. I think the Charging in + keyboard + mouse + video out is clearer with USB-C.
>I just do not want to use that interface for those sort of tasks.
That is your preference. For others the advantage of utilizing a familiar interface outweighs the disadvantages (that maybe even aren't for some) mentioned.
You need to diagnose something on your laptop that has stopped accepting input or with a blank screen. plug in your Android phone, enable USB tethering, ssh in.
You are on holidays, your need to help someone (or yourself) with some server issues. Use your teminal to ping them, ssh, etc. Later, no Internet at your rental house. No computers. Fire up the terminal,diagnose the issue. nmap the network if you need to find the IP of something (also, to check for cameras? IDK).
It's just a huge toolbox, batteries included. You might not need it. It can certainly come handy, especially if you have no Internet to download the corresponding app.
I don't use it often, but when I do, it's much better to have it than not having it.
FWIW This ping/latency tool is a great tool and impressively terse, I've had to implement it myself several times the last 20 years for reasons. So I am glad someone actually shipped a tool for it.
To answer your question: I think your point of view need to change. The need we want to full fill is to do computer stuff, we have a pretty neat computer in our hand it is clear we want to use it as such.