Please keep in mind that people differ. Visual tools like what you intend are virtually useless to me since I am not very visually oriented. I far prefer the richness of text. Not only does a visual metaphor not help me much, but I have trouble providing visual metaphors that help others. That isn't how my brain works.

Two essays on this theme of possible interest. First of all Unix as literature which explains one of the fundamental philosophical differences between Unix and most other operating systems. And then secondly Neal Stephenson's, In The Beginning Was The Command Line. I won't try to describe it other than to say it is long.

Some background. Both essays are from when Microsoft's monopoly still looked invincible and the idea of Linux as a serious competitor looked to most people who heard about it like a sad joke.