My brother-in-law is a corporate IT QA tester. He is a big Linux fan and runs it on his home PC. Whenever we visit them he & I will be talking various subjects and I’ll say, “go to this website” or “have you tried this?” Inevitably, he will reply, “oh, I’m having trouble with this driver” or some such excuse.
Nearly all of the small “tools” programs have been written for Windows (Android is gaining fast and anything to do with “the sophisticated set” is on OSx).
Linux just requires too much fidgeting. It reminds me of the days when you needed to tune up your car every 15k miles - Install new Cap & Rotor, new Points, set the Dwell, set the Timing (woe unto you with dual points distributors!), check the Plug wires, pull the Spark plugs, read the electrodes to see if you’ve been running the correct heat range for your driving style, etc, etc.
Nowadays it’s, “Oh, it’s been 100k miles, time for a new set of Platinum or Iridium plugs.”
Yes, I mutter curses at Microsoft as often as the next guy. But Linux would be like fumbling around learning a foreign language with 73 dialects and some aficionado telling me my problem is I’m speaking the wrong dialect.
Funny, I have been using Linux for years and never ran into that problem. I do have trouble with Flash on my Windows 7 laptop.
Based on this story, he either doesn't want to do what you want to do, doesn't spend much time on the computer at home or is incompetent. I have no formal training or coding ability, and can do everything I want to do using Linux. Spent last night doing DVD authoring using DeVeDe. Dude's probably sick of computer crap and just wants to drink a beer with you.