I have five Linux boxes in regular service (not counting the dozens of RPi-likes and VMs), with multiple configurations (mostly different filesystems - BtrFS, ZFS, XFS, LVM or bare metal, depending on requirements) and the only machines that give me surprises are the two Windows boxes, which, really, never do anything "weird".

Out of curiosity, what are you using so many machines for? I can imagine collecting a few, but getting regular service out of them without having a business workload of some kind seems unusual to me.

- One server that runs ad-hoc VMs for various reasons and also does heavy lifting when the laptops aren't quite well suited for it. It has a monitor, but it's almost never used like that.

- One very light (and slow by today's standards) Fedora laptop I use mostly from the couch and used to go with me to conferences.

- One reasonably sized (also old, but still snappy) Ubuntu laptop I use tethered to a desk with a keyboard and monitor.

- One that's mostly a file server that all computers on the network can see.

- One that's a "write-only" file server for backups.

Not the GP, but:

- a desktop on Arch

- an arm-based NAS on Debian

- a router running OpenWRT

- a backup target on Debian

- a media player (x86) with Kodi/Wine/Dosbox/Mame/other emulators

All are in regular use, but only the NAS and router run 24/7.

> That's the issue with Linux desktop users - they are fanatics and obsessed with their 'freedom of choice'... taking 2-3 hours per week to perfect their desktop with the perfect background and then post it on some Linux community site.

Oh please, that's absurd. I probably spend 2-3 hours per year cumulatively on system maintenance tasks, and the rest of the time I get my work and play done.

> Spending more time on forums defending their 'right choice' that doing actual work

Pretty sure that's what you're doing right now. I don't think Linux is right for everyone, but your criticisms don't make sense. You're not even criticizing the platform itself, you're making up weird things about the people who use it, which kinda says a lot about you right there.

> Let's move on.

Been there, done that, moved on from Windows, never looking back.

> That's the issue with Linux desktop users - they are fanatics and obsessed with their 'freedom of choice', by using desktop environments that mimic the same thing they migrated from :)

Microsoft and Apple have invested millions into design so it's not unreasonable that users of FOSS might like some of the design decisions made by those companies. That doesn't make FOSS users "fanatics", that makes them "pragmatic".

> Spending more time on forums defending their 'right choice' that doing actual work

Isn't that literally what you're doing right now?

> and then taking 2-3 hours per week to perfect their desktop with the perfect background and then post it on some Linux community site.

Now you're just being argumentative for the sake of it

> Been there done that. Windows just works. Let's move on.

As posted elsewhere, "just works" will differ depending on the individual and their requirements. Assuming what works for you is universal for everyone is the kind of delusional take that will get you pegged as a fanboy.

> they are fanatics and obsessed with their 'freedom of choice', by using desktop environments that mimic the same thing they migrated from :)

Have you ever met a Linux user in person?

I ask you because most Linux users I know just run whatever came with their distro and, when unhappy, change distro. I'm running both Fedora and Ubuntu and I'm quite happy with both. The biggest change was to use the Gnome wallpaper because I didn't really like the Ubuntu one. My Fedora laptop is mostly vanilla.

> Spending more time on forums defending their 'right choice' that doing actual work ;)

We just like to correct people who write some baseless criticism and attacks on our professional attitudes, because, you know, these kind of comment is not really nice. Or professional. Or even correct.

> Been there done that. Windows just works. Let's move on.

Been there, done that, Linux just works better, and keeps working. Let's move on.

> Been there done that.

As a Linux user, I've never done that. Any kinds of obsessions are useless. I'm concentrated on performance and efficiency, and I find Linux environment perfect for my needs, extremely rich and flexible. Someone might say the same about their Windows box - and that's perfectly fine, fortunately everybody is free to use what they want - let's leave OS wars to people who enjoy having this kind of argument.

One of the points of Gnome is that it has sensible defaults and you just live with them.

Like, you know, a Mac.

BTW, there's something to be said about how sensible Windows defaults are. I'm not really liking the start menu moving to the middle of the dock.

Mac has terrible defaults though. The DE with the best defaults I have used so far has been Xfce. Xfce is a bot rough in some areas since it is a small volunteer driven project bit the defaults are excellent.