This could be due to the focus of the kernel developers involved. At some point in the 2000s, companies such as IBM invested heavily in Linux, working on making

This could be due to the focus of the kernel developers involved. At some point in the 2000s, companies such as IBM invested heavily in Linux, working on making the kernel scale well on 'big iron' machines with tens of cores and NUMA-style architecture. As a result, the focus shifted away from 'normal' desktop boxes. But was this a good or bad thing? Even desktop machines can now have 16+ cores and NUMA. So, perhaps that focus has paid off for more users?