It’s hard because it doesn’t care.

I like this idea because it speaks to two different but related concepts in one statement. Linux doesn't care how you use it, and in that sense you are free because it's happy to place deep system internals in your hands. But at the same time, it also doesn't care for you. Not much emphasis is placed on fit and finish beyond a handful of people who just want to make their DE, their app, their audio system work great for their needs. There's not really a "barrier to output" and dumb decisions/broken code gets shipped all the time, although, I think this is becoming increasingly commonplace on the commercial side of things too.

Linux is a beast of its own. No one is exercising unilateral control over the software ecosystem, and that comes with great power and great responsibilities.