That was my suggestion but it appears it keeps getting misunderstood. You'd *never* have to type such strange symbols in the dash. That's insane.
What I suggested is adding a keyboard *shortcut* that changes from Alt-F1 mode to Alt-F2 mode and vice versa. A key like ~, ! or . could work here, as they don't appear in application names (gnome-do uses . (dot), IIRC). These are merely suggestions.
Juan suggest Control+Enter to interpret input as a terminal command. That's even better! No need for a toggle, either mode is directly accessible.
Another suggestion: add a 5th tab-stop for the Alt-F2 mode. Right now you can use tab to change between four locations (lens?): 'applications', 'documents', etc. Add a 5th stop and the goal is achieved.
What's the rationale for this suggestion? It's that we are currently stuck with two distinct dash modes (Alt-F1 and Alt-F2) that:
(a) look identical
(b) behave differently, and
(c) and are mutually exclusive (once you enter Alt-F2 you can never move back to Alt-F1 without closing and reopening the dash).
This can be improved. This should be improved.