Operating Systems

I agree with you.

Linux is awesome. And the big modern distros have come leaps and bounds in terms of accomodating novice users. And in OP's example where they are doing X and Y tasks on Z hardware where the software used for those tasks is popular and the hardware is well supported it's great for that! But on the whole, your average user is less likely to encounter issues they can't resolve with the big proprietary commercial OS's.

I think Linux usability for the average user will continue to improve, and adoption will continue to increase. But just by it's nature I don't see Linux and the open source ecosystem as a whole ever being as easy as commercial offerings. And I think that's ok. I do wish that people as a whole would put more effort into understanding at a high level how their technology works and what it's doing. It's a vital part of our daily lives afterall. If they did Linux usage would skyrocket. But it is what it is.

I wasn't intending to get up on that soap box when I hit reply. I'll step down now.