@feld when I was young I let myself spend time modifying everything on my Linux desktop and I thought it was fun. I was learning a ton because I was new. At some point I kept modifying things but I wasn't learning much anymore. Then I got to a point where I felt like I was wasting time by having to modify things.
I got a MBP and the hardware and software were great! I didn't have to modify stuff! Which was good because mostly I couldn't.
Almost a decade later the performance was terrible. OS X outgrew my laptop (which was my daily driver). I went back to Debian Testing.
And I had lost the desire to modify things. Debian matured a little, yes, but I had also lost that habit of modifying everything. I just setup the basics and go and it is exactly what I need. Linux was what I needed and I wasn't wasting time.
I agree that OS X is a pretty great user experience though.