Linux hasn't succeeded on its own merits but as an economical way for companies to bootstrap their own products... That is one of the (biggest) merits of linux

Linux hasn't succeeded on its own merits but as an economical way for companies to bootstrap their own products... That is one of the (biggest) merits of linux. Its a "compute core" that can be the start of many products, including but very much not limited to desktops. Sure we wanted linux to usurp the absolute power of Microsoft on the desktop in the 90s, but the "desktop" becomes less of a 'thing' every day, and linux (FOSS in general) is just getting started.