is it true that modifying conf files in SUSE/red hat could lead to system troubleshooting? is it true that we should use the command line for everything even if we know how to modify conf files such as crontab? can i modify every conf file using the command line assuming that i dont install Gnome or KDE?

Any OS will have this problem...
There are rumors that if you remove the registry in Windows, you might have some system troubleshooting to do
No, if the Graphical Interface is well done, there should be no problem. Suse or RedHat are very well tested so if you keep with a stable (==tested)release there will be no problem.
But the computer can not correct human stupidity, so putting garbage information in conf files (or registry, whatever) will lead to garbage..
User rights (never running as root) helps to prevent human stupidity. A user can only make harm to HIS account. Root can make harm to the WHOLE SYSTEM.
Yes, you have the choice of running Linux without GUI, so it's done in a way that everything can be tweaked by command line.
It's what happens with internet servers. Most of them have no X-window and no KDE, Gnome, Xfce, Fvwm2 (this one is really light though)

Where did that rumors come from?

here's exactly what i once read about SUSE:

"The Linux system stores all user and group configuration data in the following files:
/etc/passwd
/etc/shadow
/etc/group
Whenever possible, you should not modify these files with an editor. Instead use the Security and Users modules provided in YaST or the command line tools. Modifying these files with an editor can lead to errors (especially in /etc/shadow), such as a user—including the user root—no longer being able to log in."

are there any conf files other than these three modifying them (correctly) with an editor could lead to errors, dude i'm a newbie but not THAT NEWBIE, i know removing a registery file in any OS could lead to troubleshooting, but what i meant was modifying conf files manually with an editor CORRECTLY WITH NO MISTAKES, and not using the command line or GUI tools to do the functions i expect from modifying these files manually, could this lead to errors?
thx dude 4 replying and that rumor thing was a very bad subject for my thread!

I've been using Linux as a main desktop for only a short amount of time, also. I've been in the Windows world for a very long time, though, and know a lot about editing INI files, etc. directly. I understand the possible problems related to directly modifying files, in some cases rendering the computer "broken".

In my time with Linux I have also modified conf files. Most of the time it works, but there are times when it's just plain easier to use a CLI utility, especially when multiple files must be modified. This is true in the case of adding new users, where they are added to the /etc/passwd, /etc/groups, etc. files.

ok thanks man, so it's risky only when it comes to modifying conf files of user and group ?

thanks any way.

I was using the user/group example ... as an example of a relatively complicated, and dangerous conf change. Other, probably less dangerous conf changes might be to your xorg.conf file, which could render X unusable.

With the user/group example, say you modify the /etc/passwd file, and change something in the root user's configuration incorrectly, you may not be able to log back in as root, and might not be able to obtain superuser access to fix it. That would be a very bad thing to screw up. Hence, it's probably safer to allow the CLI utilities to change the files.

As long as you know what you're doing, any config file can be manually edited. 9 out of 10 people don't know what they're doing though (a drive on pretty much any roadway in the entire world will support this) and for that reason, the recommended way to modify those files is through a front-end.

As stated before, the user can render his system unusable by careless or sloppy editing, so if you do want to manually edit a file, just proceed carefully

When I last used Suse it would undo all manual changes the next time you ran yast. So it's quite senseless to do manual changes on Suse if you're runnning the config tools as well.

now i get it, thx guyz, i think i'm gonna stick with the cli toolz unless i dont know the exact cli's of certain stuff then i might choose to edit the conf files manually very carefully.