Here's an example. I use Discord for keeping in touch with friends, running D&D sessions, etc. Discord on Linux has a random crash whenever in a voice call. I've followed up on threads, and others have this same issue, possibly related to glibc, but there aren't any definitive solutions yet. So, instead, I tinker. I make a quick two-line python script to launch discord repeatedly every time it crashes. Discord reconnects to the voice chat on restart, and all is well. Usually, people don't even notice that I've dropped out of 1-2 seconds.

But Discord does more at startup than just reconnecting. It also checks for new updates, and refuses to start if there is an update waiting. So now I've dropped out of a call, I have self-opening popups letting me know that there is an update available, and I'm trying to download/install the .deb update before the D&D players get bored and start making puns. Nothing good happens when the players have started making puns.

I like tinkering. I really do. But I like tinkering in order to solve my own problems, and to make my life easier. I don't like tinkering on limited time in order to add yet another support to a house of cards that is gently swaying in the breeze while I'm trying to hold a D&D session in the top room of that card-house.

It's one thing to tinker with Linux to learn how the OS works and another thin to troubleshoot it just as you are about to give a presentation.