I think you've hit the nail on the head. For me the experience has always been a function of what effort you put in and to a degree where you aim for on the "am

I think you've hit the nail on the head. For me the experience has always been a function of what effort you put in and to a degree where you aim for on the "ambitiousness spectrum"! Some things are going to be tough unless you're some kind of guru, because few would've recently tried it and you may hit a brick wall before long. Sounds like openness to weighing up other distros might have helped the author too (not to dis' Fedora!)