I know. - I also often say that free software is _easy_ to use. But the reality is something completely different.
Really? Look at the next generation of proprietary OSes, especially W2k: I cannot see in which ways they are "easier" than GNU/Linux. They are as complex as GNU/Linux.
Well, when looking at proprietary OSes I have to look at the various kinds of them:
W2K - Gets more and more complex; I don't know more about it. I don't think I'd be able to admin a NT box without reading books.
MacOSX - Is distributed with Apache right out of the box and seems to be very easy to install and maintain without unix knowledge. (It is mach based. - all unix utils run if they don't require X11)
Solaris - As complex as Linux. More commercial support in europe IMHO and comes with good documentation. The interfaces are much more stable than the ones in Linux.
Linux - Nice, good. - _HARD_ to upgrade; not that well documented. FREE.
About me: I'm using Linux and I'm helping the free software field if I can but I used W2K on my laptop during various projects (not really useable!). I've also used Linux in a commercial ISP environment. With Linux you have to be _very_ careful when upgrading.