For every couple "just works" cases there is a corresponding "doesn't work at all". Given the diversity of the PC as a hardware platform there are going to be edge cases. There is no avoiding that. I'm fairly certain there are cases where hardware "just works" on Linux but doesn't do so on Windows either because there is no driver any more, or because the driver is borked, or any other reason. And here's my anecdote: the wifi on a windows laptop I had once kept dying or dropping packets randomly. Turned out the shitty Killer wifi driver was doing some kind of "optimisation" <insert hand-waving here> to improve throughput. It took a lot of google-fu to find out what the problem was. And this is where I believe you are wrong wrt the command line. The command line is a powerful diagnostic tool and having text files as configuration is much more accessible than delving into a 13-level deep registry chain.

Now, I'm not claiming that everything is smooth sailing on Linux, because it isn't, but the "I've spend hours trying to debug something" argument can be said for both sides and if it comes to that the mythical "average user" won't be able to sort it out by themselves in either case, command line or not.

Things don't always just work on windows. Just look at any windows forum. And the solution is usually doing things in a different way to not hit the problem or installing some third party software that does what you'd do by typing a few commands in a shell, but in a more cumbersome way (requiring a compiler, writing an actual program, etc).

Anyway, the main issues in linux tend to be with proprietary software which were not properly ported to linux (because of the small market share) or that weren't ported at all (and you're running them with wine). It's a chicken and egg problem. If linux had a greater market share the proprietary stuff would "just work" as much as they do on windows, anyway.

I spent months trying to debug why a windows update stopped my microphone working (which needs a powered 3.5mm socket). Reinstalling didn't fix it, and the mic worked perfectly on GNU/Linux the entire time. In the end I had to buy about $250 of USB audio equipment just to talk to my friends again.

Since about 3-4 years ago, I have had many more "just works" experiences on GNU/Linux compared to other OSes.

> I've never spent hours trying to debug why I need to reboot to get wifi back on Windows.

I have. (Windows update official drivers broke Wifi, the site for the Wifi card no longer had older drivers available to download. Thus, broken Wifi.)

Anecdotes are fun!

Ha, I have. Had to move to Linux to get my intel wifi working on a new Dell laptop in the end.