Linux does work out of the box if you buy hardware from a company that has a very large corporate install base (Dell, Lenovo, etc). Linux also works really wel

Linux does work out of the box if you buy hardware from a company that has a very large corporate install base (Dell, Lenovo, etc). Linux also works really well if your hardware isn't bleeding edge. The part where Linux becomes hard to use and requires expertise is learning the new UX, understanding what software and tools are no longer available and figuring out how to live and work with the alternatives that exist. The degree of technical proficiency that you have is probably relevant to your "out of the box" experience - you are reading and posting on HN, which means that your level of technical knowledge is probably higher than most users given the typical audience of this site.