[twic]

> All the GUI stuff worked without me having to fiddle around in the terminal like a "hacker"

This was also my experience.

The only customisation i've done is:

1. Moving the panel, depending on what my feelings about proper panel placement are at the time.

2. Removing all the default shortcuts, because they collide with IntelliJ and/or are useless, and defining a few of my own

3. Setting up custom compose key sequences

Removing the shortcuts was done in the UI, but i really wish i could do it in a config file instead, because it's a pain to spend ten minutes clicking around. I had to hit the command line to set up compose keys, although i think this is an X problem, not a Cinnamon problem.