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.

> Don't think I've ever thought while using a phone "damn I wish I had a Linux terminal handy"

Then maybe it's not for you, but some of us absolutely have had that thought and find it incredibly useful.