Last printer I had to configure on my Linux machine required finding a downloading a hidden mystery bash script from the manufacturer's website and running it with root permissions. Not exactly "plug and play" or "safe"
Then you got the wrong printer. Some manufacturers do a good job of supporting Linux (HP is probably the best actually; their drivers all ship standard in most distros), others don't bother.
I guess you don't like Apple evangelists either: you can't just buy some random hardware and just expect it to work on your MacBook. It only works that way on Windows because Windows has ~90% of the desktop market, so of course every hardware maker is going to make sure it works on Windows first, and anything else is a distant maybe.
Would you buy an auto part without making sure first that it'll work on your year/make/model of car?
Sure, it was "plug and play", but like every printer, it took some work: you have to download and install a driver package and software suite, because this stuff isn't included in the Windows OS. This simply isn't the case in Linux: for many printers (particularly HPs), the drivers are already there.
Did you run Windows Update? Windows used to ship all drivers with the OS, but since 2018 they don't by default and instead match you in the cloud. You still might not have had to run the software suite; it might have been able to match and ship your drivers from the cloud.
I'm pretty sure that M$ has a bigger driver database than linux.
I have HP LaserJet 1018 and it is pain to setup. Currently, when I will need to print, I will just turn on printer and then upload firmware manually using cat to make it work.
