Consistency in the settings, especially in localization. For instance, in my Linux Mint start menu, I have “Settings”, “System administration”, and “System settings” (subtitled “Control center”). Now where do I look for a setting? Additionally, some or all setting from the “system settings” are available as standalone apps. Why?

In a similar vein, a run-of-the-mill distro is made up of lots of components, and it is not at all clear which is in charge of what. If I want to change hotkeys, who’s responsible for that? What do I need to google for? Drivers? Desktop environment? Some OS-specific settings app?

In general, there is always two or more of everything. Sound? pulse or pipewire. Which is installed? Which should be installed? Search the web and find literally every answer. UI widgets? Gnome, Cinnamon, KDE. Graphics? Nvidia, Noveau, PRIME, Optimus. The question “How do I make this work” always is a “well, it depends… actually… you’ll need to try, and if it doesn work, try something else.”