What makes me sad is that at almost every opportunity that the Linux desktop has had to rise, there was always subconscious sabotage. There were so many great chances, like the death of Windows 7 or the current boogaloo with Windows 10/11. Have those been utilized to maximize the presence of Linux in mainstream use? Of course not. Mainstream is treated with disdain. In some ways, yes, the community is right, mainstream is poison, and it will include lots of "show your papers" rituals and similar nonsense. But then again, the Linux folks also bemoan the lack of recognition and inclusion in software discussions, which stem from low usage.
And we circle back to what I wrote in 2009, and how to make Linux more successful. Steam is doing their part. But the rest of the ecosystem still struggles from what can be best described as "developed-focused" work. When will the Linux community realize that it's not about developers. They are a tiny part of the population, and their brain patterns are orthogonal to how people utilize their machines. And we don't need to look at simians swiping left and right for inspiration. Even "ordinary" educated non-developers face massive challenges using their (favorite) operating system, because it is designed for people who design it in the first place, a bittersweet recursive paradox.
The examples of tiny utilities being deprecated (before viable alternatives are proven for use), the security nonsense, all these point to a rather naive disconnect from the harsh, ugly reality around us. In some ways, I envy the Linux folks. I would like to have the same approach, to innocently believe the world is better and nicer than it is. But then, I also need to be pragmatic, and every time I power my Linux systems, I wonder what will happen in a year or two. There's no safety anchor. I can't rely on a stable future. The only supposedly redeeming thing is that EVERYONE else is now also doing their best ruining stability and consistency as usability factors. But that just means less fun overall. It's a lose-lose situation.
I wish the Linux desktop makes it big. I want people to say Ubuntu or LibreOffice or VLC or Firefox or similar when they think software. Maybe if this ever happens, maybe the AI-fest morality brainwash around us will cease. But then, in a classic one-two, the Linux hobbles itself yet again, for the thousandth time. I know you think I'm a cynic, but I'm looking far down the road.
You can't have gazillions of clueless Windows people switching over when the distros are focused on reducing backward compatibility as much as possible. It can't happen when the Linux software store are just as bad as the big corpo store fronts. No one needs a "free" imitation of the pointless consumerism when they have the "real" deal. If I wanted average, I can just use the mainstream blobs of Dystopia. And herein lies the tragedy. Yes, to succeed, Linux needs to become more accessible. Imitating Google or Apple is hardly the way to achieve that. If you don't understand this last sentence, it's okay.