The year of the Linux desktop did not happen and will not happen, if we consider the actual GNU+systemd+curl+gstreamer+freetype+Wayland/Xorg+Gtk/Qt+.... as the

The year of the Linux desktop did not happen and will not happen, if we consider the actual GNU+systemd+curl+gstreamer+freetype+Wayland/Xorg+Gtk/Qt+.... as the desktop layer. None of those projects have shared goal of actually making a useful system with stable API / ABI. Moreover, there is already quite a bit competition inside like Qt vs GTK. What made Android successful is Google seeing that mess and creating an entirely new operating system, from kernel to especially userspace. Android in a way turns Linux into a system that is much closer to a microkernel based OS. The binder IPC on the kernel side resembles the message passing systems of microkernels and almost all communication, except a couple of system stuff, passes through it. From allocating display buffers to "Share" buttons all of them uses this system. It has nothing to do with classical desktop system nor the Unix "way" of doing things, which is oversimplifying the system layer to the point of almost uselessness. While the build system of AOSP and Android apps gives me shivers, the OS works beautifully and it can be continuously upgraded and be kept secure, if greedy SoC and device manufacturers released driver updates.