Once you realize that he's writing a blog/journal, his quirky opinions become less exasperating. We all like what we like. I have really disliked Ubuntu when I've tried it with a LiveCD, and yet it's the current "hot" Linux distro. There's just no accounting for or arguing with someone's taste.
I found it rather odd that someone interested enough to be undertaking a continuing blog on many aspects of Linux would have a computer with a flaky CD-ROM drive. I mean, you can't cough up $40 for a piece of essential equipment?

And why is he sticking with such loser hardware? "Considering that my testing box is a 'measly' 350 MHz PII Deschutes with 'only' 256 MB of RAM and a 'puny' 40 GB hard drive"--I call that a doorstop. If he's impoverished, okay--you have no choice but to do the best you can with what you have. But if he's not, I wonder what priority he assigns to computing.
I also scratched my head at his XFce problem of no system sounds. To that I can only say "thank goodness." I detest those clicks, pops, and dings. Whether Windows or Linux, system sounds are one of the first things I turn off. But as I already said, it's a blog and if he likes them, he likes them.
Nevertheless, we shouldn't overlook the things he criticizes. Finding out what someone dislikes about the distro helps us improve if we see merit in the criticism.
--GrannyGeek