I have had my share of Linux Evenings. They built my confidence when it comes to troubleshooting system stuff, and they eroded my confidence in Linux for a while. Things are incredibly stable these days compared to even half a decade ago.
While one some proprietary systems the solution is usually "you are fucked deal with it".
Having said that it has been litterally years since I had this kind of problem. Checking if people have issues with devices on linux distros before buying actually works really well. I just don't buy the things that don't work. Kind of like checking at the back of the box if it is <insert os of choice> compatible.