Toilet trained
Peter, some here (and I didn't say me) might be willing to say you've got more than middlin' experience. Since you wax poetic over the merits of both Win2K and VAX, and are known to run GNU/Linux, you've a range of experience likely unusual among NT admins.
Moreover, you don't prove anything one way or the other regards Ben's point. If any slack-jawed 14 year old can run a lawnmower, the fact that an airline pilot uses one to mow his lawn doesn't mean the equipment requires, or is designed to be run by, airline pilots.
Microsoft is known to have promulgated the myth of "Zero Administration" for quite some time. The fact that you're a nonzero admin doesn't negate this fact.
Frankly, GNU/Linux is headed down the same path of putting powerful tools in the hands of anyone, so arguing from a strict point of "it's the admins fault" probably isn't going to be productive. The GNU/Linux camp does seem to be somewhat more grounded in a philosophy of technological indoctrination, though: you're supposed to know your tools, RTFM, and STFW.
There are also significantly different incentives to producing and distributing bug-free software, and updates and fixes to remedy other, in the free software world. Microsoft is notorious for charging for bugfixes and updates, at least in sufficient aggregates (Win98, Win2K).
