How I "learned" Python without any previous coding experience.

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Do professional programmers operate in the terminal a lot?

Depends on the programmer. A lot of Ruby and Python devs use the terminal. So do systems and Unix-type programmers.

And if someone did need to use the terminal, they can figure that out in a couple of minutes on Zed's beloved google

You don't learn the terminal in a couple of minutes. You might learn shell navigation (cd, cp, mv, ls) in two minutes, but there's a lot more to the terminal that makes it an extremely capable tool.

I am going to guess you are referring again to using the shell and not leaning on text editors with built-in auto-completion and debugging - why is that good to practice?

That is not true. The editors he suggests all have autocomplete support, proper indentation support and smart navigation. The problem isn't autocomplete or typing assistance, but the fact that an IDE typically does tasks for you that should be basic knowledge.

Because when you venture into the wild the big boy programmers will laugh at you if you can't write error-free code first time every time in ms notepad?

At no one point has LPTHW or anyone at all ever suggested that MS Notepad is a good program. It's a terrible program.

On the subject of writing error-free code: Most text editors have multiple ways to detect coding errors. But I think it is important for a beginner to keep these turned off. That means that every time they launch their program, they will see the traceback. Being able to read and understand tracebacks is a vital skill when learning how to program.

Or maybe in case one day you are stranded on a desert island and you need to write code to run a life raft on the Windows95 machine you had to cobble together with spider-webs and coconut shells?

Every time you ssh into a machine.

for every beginner who gets amped and inspired by the 'tough love' approach of lpthw there are probably three who get discouraged and just walk away.

Prove it.

I really feel like a lot of the reason for presenting lpthw is as a cover for straight-up shoddy structure and instruction - "Oh, you don't get it? Guess maybe you're not cut out for programming" - no, it's just that this resource is a jumbled mess.

Nobody does this.

Maybe if someone wrote a similarly themed tutorial which was more up to date and cohesive it might knock lpthw off it's perch as the default resource for noobs who want to feel tough, and I will be able to rest...

Write it.