A lack of awareness does not determine whether something is true or not.
While Linux, like everything else, is not perfect, it is technically just the kernel, and the version of linux you installed was called a "distribution", and they normally package one or more varieties of GUIs (Graphical User Interface), commonly known as a "Desktop Environment".
Linux distributions have dozens of choices of desktop environments. You did choose a desktop to install you just didn’t read the basic information about your choice.
Frankly, if you don’t know this basic fact about Linux you aren’t a reliable source of opinion on whether the Linux desktop is a “huge mountain of obvious stuff that doesn’t work.”
I don't remember installing "desktop" on my computer.
A lack of awareness does not determine whether something is true or not.
While Linux, like everything else, is not perfect, it is technically just the kernel, and the version of linux you installed was called a "distribution", and they normally package one or more varieties of GUIs (Graphical User Interface), commonly known as a "Desktop Environment".
Here is a list for your edification: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment
You may want to file a bug report for their respective project, or if you're up to it, fix the problem yourself instead of just complaining about it.
Linux distributions have dozens of choices of desktop environments. You did choose a desktop to install you just didn’t read the basic information about your choice.
Frankly, if you don’t know this basic fact about Linux you aren’t a reliable source of opinion on whether the Linux desktop is a “huge mountain of obvious stuff that doesn’t work.”