Point is that you don't need to, you can make any distro work. "Working out of the box" for Linux doesn't have the same meaning as for Windows. If you're a buying a custom motherboard for an old notebook that's nothing.

I love linux but damn, way to shift the goalposts.

edit: Does any one else feel that redefining "working out of the box" to mean the opposite "just for linux", hurts linux's reputation more than just saying something non-hyperbolic, like it "works with a surprisingly minimal amount of driver treasure-hunt"?

As a tangent, I wonder if this applies to other things. if BMW users tell you "when talking about BMWs the term low-maintenance refers to not having your engine explode every 10k miles. With that in mind, BMWs are very low-maintenance", are you less likely to buy one than if they say "well there's a little more required maintenance than some other manufacturers, but as long as you do it the car is very reliable."?

Linux isn't just one thing. In a parallel universe he used a different distro and didn't have any issues. That says nothing about whether or not this piece of hardware is a good purchase or how good it is supported in general.