I think it may become more popular because recent debian policy changes made it is easier to get missing not-as-free drivers. I've always thought debian's main

I think it may become more popular because recent debian policy changes made it is easier to get missing not-as-free drivers. I've always thought debian's main competition was ubuntu, which embraces non-free. Unfortunately it also actively scrabbles to keep a hold on your machine (try uninstalling ubuntu-advantage-tools)