Back when I was primarily a C# dev, I used OSS lightweight ORMs which had LINQ interfaces. I also frequently used LINQ on in-memory structures. It's fantastic,

Back when I was primarily a C# dev, I used OSS lightweight ORMs which had LINQ interfaces. I also frequently used LINQ on in-memory structures. It's fantastic, and I never felt any need to use EF. That said, C# / .NET shops did have a tendency to mindlessly buy into all sorts of terrible Microsoft enterprisey stuff. That drove me crazy and ultimately is what made me head out for greener pastures.