I don't think they're competing ideals at all. What is needed is a configurable system with easy defaults, just like setting nano as the default editor but allowing me to change it to vim.
Maybe in theory they aren't competing, but in practice they definitely are. Remember, open-source is made by whoever shows up and contributes. If everyone who shows up is either a hardcore Linux expert, or someone who want to make Linux easier for the masses, then who will integrate the two goals? Open-source isn't a corporation, where there top-down leadership. It's a bottom-up ad-hoc collaboration.
