I feel this way about macOS.
How much time have I lost because the Bluetooth was screwy? How much time have I lost because the WiFi did something strange? How much time have I lost trying to do USB development and the OS got in the way? How many times have I had to blow away and reinstall all my printers because macOS got confused. On macOS, I have to install special apps to keep my laptop awake or to set it to the native screen resolution. How much weirdness have I had to debug because of App Dislocation?
It finally got driven home when I was trying to configure someone else from scratch on macOS. After the sixth "Hey, how do you deal with misfeature <X>?" followed by "Well, you need to download an app that does <Y>." I realized that I'm diddling with my macOS system as much as I diddled with my Linux systems.
At that point, I might as well choose Linux so that my diddling actually helps the wider community rather than simply going into the black hole of Apple and adding to their profits.
I was a linux-on-the-desktop user for about a decade before switching to Mac, and like you, I try Linux out again from time to time. My experience is similar: I hit stuff I just don't have the time or patience to deal with anymore, every single time. Looking back, it only ever seemed good because I was somehow blind to how much time I was losing, and I'd learned to work around or ignore a bunch of broken stuff on my systems.