I came across this web page a while back and it help solidify many of the real answers to many people's complaints about Linux and presents them in a fairly easy to understand manner. I had lost the link, but thanks to Digg, I've got it back!
OLS 2006 Keynote by Greg Kroah-Hartman
I really should start digging around the in Linux kernel myself. I'd think that I would find that very interesting to do.