Linux vs Linux

Back in 1998 I was very unhappy with using Windows and was thinking about an alternative. While reading a computer magazine I spotted a few articles about an exotic operating system – Linux. After reading the article and seeing screenshots, I decided to give Linux a go as a secondary OS on my system. I went down to the computer shop and got a copy of Slackware 3.0. At the time I was a complete newbie in Linux and knew nothing about how to install it. Back then Linux wasn’t as easy to install as it is nowadays so it took me a whole day to successfully complete installation. I sat down with heaps of manuals that came with the installation CD, magazines and lots of enthusiasm. At the time I didn’t have Internet at home so it was a bit tricky getting the information I needed. First, I went through the partitioning and installing the core system, configuration of stuff like X11 and external devices. Not to mention drivers and getting things to work under Linux at the time. It was a hassle, but it was also really challenging and fun. It was great to see how i was beating obstacles step by step and how much I learnt during the installation process. Those were the happy days of Linux if you ask me. You would have to put effort in installing and configuring stuff. Nowadays, Linux is made so simple that it loses that charm it had before. I know that Linux is now more user-friendly and one does not have to deal with drivers and configuration as much because everything is being automated. I think new Linux users today are able to learn much less about how the system work because everything is instantly there. The only thing one has to learn eventually, is how to compile the kernel. What do you think? Was Linux better back in the old days?