Oh phew, I assumed dog was finding cat poo when out and about so I thought you were suggesting setting that up as a prison yard for dog to attempt to run around in!
It’s not finding the terminal, it’s finding that you need to install xcode separately to configure or run things, or install brew for a proper package manager, or install third party tools to do basic actions like move windows around with keyboard shortcuts. It’s the “our way or the highway” attitude which drives a lot of how they design their software.
I’m paying for the convenience of a tv-optimised android device. It’s relatively versatile in that you can install most android apps, but much more robust than trying to build something myself. And all I use it for is watching video so there’s not really much it can data-mine compared to something serious like my phone.
Ironically I found the best way to watch YouTube on the TV was to pay Google for a “Chromecast with Android TV” (or whatever it’s called) and install SmartTube on it. I could have spent a while tinkering around with my Raspberry Pi to create some custom solution and given Google no money, but this cost less than 2 months of YouTube premium and now I’ve got a device I can do whatever with.
There’s definitely a disconnect between hardware and software. I quite like the hardware and like you say it’s definitely appropriate for the serious user. The OS that updates, changes my settings, and shouts about new emoji reaction features? Not so much!
It is true though, developers use macs because they give you a useful unixy environment but Apple do try to keep that hidden because the people they actually market the devices to are the casual users. I find myself constantly fighting with macOS because it has decided that things must be done The Apple Way and I have to go to the forums to find out where they’re hiding the features. Obviously I’m not going to use Windows for a dev environment (I’m not a masochist), but it’s a shame that most companies can’t be bothered supporting a Linux desktop environment.