For the past 5, I haven't even looked at the insides of a computer. If the hardware breaks, I take it to the dealer to get it fixed. Somehow at one point spending time to make the tool work stopped being fun and got annoying.
Maybe it's just me, but I have heard other people having the same type of experience.
If I try to figure out, why, then the thought that pops into my mind is creating value. If I use the tool I have (2014 mbp) then I create value by writing software (you can argue about the external value if it, but for me it creates value by giving me money). If I spend time configuring the tool to make it work, I'm not creating value - the work I'm doing is not unique or interesting to anyone, it's just spending time. Perhaps as I get older and feel the amount of time left getting smaller and smaller, it drives focus away from spending time to creating new things (value).
Software is a bit more involved, but since I picked out all the components with Linux in mind I've had no major problems. In fact if I screw something up I can reinstall the os and have it back to the state it's been in about an hour. Reinstalling Kubuntu takes 20 minutes, installing all the packages I need takes another 15m, fiddling with the settings another 10. I have my /home on a separate partition so I don't lose anything and even my Firefox session get's recovered.
Now, it took me a while to get my setup to that state. Finding a distro that works for me took take a few experiments, but I don't get what the big deal is? This is a tool that I'll probably use for years, why not invest a little bit of time up front to get it just right? Yeah, it's nice that you can buy something and have it "just work" but for me personally I've never used a single piece of software or hardware that didn't go through an initial period of flux as I've fiddled with the set-up until I made it just work for me.
That's the thing though, I don't fit the profile of a common user, and probably not that of a common tech professional either. I mean, I use a custom Dvorak-like layout and I moved all my modifier keys around to be more like a lisp-machine keyboard, the market never has and never will produce something that I can buy and have it "just work".
Oh, let's not forget the . files, I've been continuously refining them for close to a decade now, that doesn't happen on it's own, I have to fiddle with it, I have to accept temporary loss of productivity for the payoff of increased productivity later when I get used to a refined workflow. I have to make experiments with new tools, I have to play with the settings. My work absolutely involves fiddling with my tools, if I didn't I'd still be using notepad++ on windows and using time-stamped directories as version control. It's a long term investment in a personal workstation that absolutely adds value over time, just not immediately and sometimes you have to accept the waste of time and account for it, it's just part of the process. I've had good results so far and very little alternative since like I said, the consumer market absolutely doesn't account for my style of use :)
I don't think the numbers add up. If you like tweaking things, it's a kind of hobby, which I totally get. I used to enjoy doing this when I had fewer responsibilities and demands on my time.
However, you can't really know if it's increasing your productivity, and I don't think that's a good justification for doing it. There's nothing wrong with tweaking things just because you can and you enjoy it.
During the last few years using my 2008 MacBook Pro I find it harder and harder to get stuff done. As a software developer I have to install/upgrade/configure certain software TOOLS for my work that I can not in a flexible robust way using MacOS X. That is the main reason for me to ditch the old fruit, apart from the proprietary mess that is Apple/Microsoft.
Whatever makes you happy is fine, but beware putting yourself on a high horse with statements like "if you don't see value in learning...".
