Not clear it is the number of distributions that is the problem as they tend to package the same libraries, desktop environments and applications. I agree with

Not clear it is the number of distributions that is the problem as they tend to package the same libraries, desktop environments and applications. I agree with grandparent post that it is the churn in underlying libraries and the downstream re-work for no increase in functionality that causes that is the problem. PS: Linux is widely used everywhere except traditional 'desktops'. Existing mainstream DEs are pretty good (KDE5/Gnome 3.16/MATE 1.8) and provide a range of choice.