i recently read a post with a somewhat similar subject and it was responded to like a flame so i'd like to emphasize that i'm a happy linux user and not trying to put it down....
over the last two years of using mandrake i found way too many inconsistencies be it with library dependancies during installation, user interface, or other random settings. i switched to slackware and it is at least 10 times better. as long as
./configure && make && make install works 90% of the time, and it does, i don't need rpm's. however, several random 'quirk's that i seem to always encounter continue to pop up, and i don't know whether these are problems i cause or flaws in the released code...
off the top of my head here are the most recent ones

suddenly everytime I open konqueror, kmail or some other kde apps (but not all) i get a message saying : "mime type application/octet-stream was not found". this persists for a few days and i had not had a chance to mess with kde's file associations panel when it suddenly stopped...?....

i close noatun and open firebird to browse the web for a while, then notice that keyboard repeat has been turned off, ie i hit the down arrow once and the page moves down once and stops. i check the keyboard panel and effectively keyboard repeat is disabled... i did not do this and five minutes before everything was fine...

i have karamba set to start in .xinitrc. i haven't yet figured out how to get the themes i want to load automatically, but at least the program loads at startup...%50 of the time. sometimes i get the prompt to choose a theme when i startup kde, sometimes i don't. i log out with karamba not running so i won't automatically be in autostart and stil this erratic behavior

many times clicking an apps icon in the kicker or typing the command in the application launcher results in a busy cursor and then nothing.... usually after two or three tries the program does open, but this happens even when i've just started kde so i don't think it could be a low mem thing, this is frustrating when i like to consider linux a very reliable OS.

i do think my continuous messing around with my system makes a good case for it all being my fault, but I never do anything as root other than installations and chmods, or editing configuration files (sometimes to read instructions in kwrite when i'm too lazy to change user first). these problems are in general usage though and not related to any files i am (knowingly) touching at the time, like the keyboard repeat thing.

just seeing if others have a similar experience or advice on how to not screw things up

It looks for me as KDE configuration issues...Too many similar problems. Make a small test: create a new user, log in and work an hour or two. Do you have the same issues?