The irritating thing about that argument is it comes with the built-in implication that you already know something else (Windows/OSX/whatever). It is basically complaining about learning-curve, right?
The other irritating thing is it usually 'means' general computer usage, but as hackers we need to choose OS's for things like server deployments, development environments, etc. In my experience when you start mixing in enough complex/worthwhile applications of the OS it becomes a wash in time consumption between *nix/Windows (since you are using the bulk of your time learning application-level things)
So if your doing something 'worthwhile' might as well go with the option that only costs 1 of the assets rather than three (time, money, and freedom)
You make an excellent point about the application-level learning, I actually noticed myself that I was spending a vast amount of time just configuring my OS and apps -- time which I could have spent actually producing things. This was my primary justification for buying my Mac, though I still think I learned a lot using Linux that I wouldn't have otherwise ...patience and perseverance, among other things.
The other irritating thing is it usually 'means' general computer usage, but as hackers we need to choose OS's for things like server deployments, development environments, etc. In my experience when you start mixing in enough complex/worthwhile applications of the OS it becomes a wash in time consumption between *nix/Windows (since you are using the bulk of your time learning application-level things)
So if your doing something 'worthwhile' might as well go with the option that only costs 1 of the assets rather than three (time, money, and freedom)