I thought we were talking about people with LITTLE experience in setting up or adjusting brakes.
I've seen many a bicycle on the rail trail where the bicycle ride disconnected a V-brake because they didn't know how to adjust the little bolt on the side in order to center the brakes.
I'm not saying that cantilever brakes are bad. I simply think that for a person who has very little experience with working on bicycle brakes that a V-brake is easier to set up and adjust than is a cantilever brake system.
Most people who say not to use cantilever brake levers with V-brakes calipers or not to use V-brake levers with cantilever brake calipers say that becuase they fear that the resultant braking may NOT be optimal for the user. Again, this is more so if the rider is inexperienced.
Here is Sheldon Brown's take on it.
"
Brake Levers for Direct-pull Cantilevers
Direct-pull cantilevers have double the
mechanical advantage compared with traditional brakes, so they require special brake levers. Direct-pull brake levers pull the cable twice as far, half as hard. The lower mechanical advantage of the lever compensates for the higher mechanical advantage of the brake arms. It is not generally safe to mix and match levers/cables between direct-pull and other types for this reason.
- Conventional brake levers used with direct-pull cantilevers will usually not pull enough cable to stop in wet conditions without bottoming out against the handlebars. In dry conditions, they either won't work, or will grab too suddenly.
- Direct-pull brake levers used with any other type of brakes will feel nice and solid when you squeeze them, but due to their lower mechanical advantage you'll need to squeeze twice as hard to stop as you should, so unless you are a lightweight rider with gorilla-like paws, this combination isn't safe either."
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html
Cheers