Personally I think this is just bad press for Linux by the Register and the article has an agenda.
I do not need to tinker with my Linux environment, my family has been using Linux on the desktop for years...
Just because some dev prefers a MAC and seems to be using a terribly broken system with bad package management and dependency issues does not mean the KDE, Gnome, Unity, Lxde, Fluxbox, E17, Openbox or Xfce... to name a few are failures on the desktop.
My E17 setup is vastly superior to any boring OSX environment... and yes it wakes up faster when I open the lid.