Maya for Windows and Mac OS X includes default shelves with buttons for commonly used features.
Maya does not include the shelves in Linux because they can slow the startup time on those platforms. However you can use the following instructions to load them.
To add default shelves to Maya on Linux
loadNewShelf "shelf_General.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Curves.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Surfaces.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Polygons.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Deformation.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Animation.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Dynamics.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Rendering.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Fluids.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Fur.mel"; loadNewShelf "shelf_Hair.mel"; saveAllShelves $gShelfTopLevel;