dhh isn’t advocating for linux for everybody per se; instead it’s addressed at programmers and similar folk who regard linux as way too complex for everyday use. the background story being that he was an Apple fanboy for the longest time and recently made the switch and now can’t shut up about it. as a result they (basecamp) developed some insane rice setup that has to be seen to be believed, it’s beyond ridiculous.

as an aside, I’ve met those people he’s talking at and they regularly blow my mind. like, how can you utilize a modern toolchain for practically every possible development scenario using an OS that actively fights you every step of the way, the abomination called WSL notwithstanding…

so the idea is the brogrammers will become the early adopters and by way of trickle-down-tech linux will make its way to normies, same way e.g. Android did.

I don’t think that’s gonna happen in the foreseeable future. the options, distros, DEs, whatevers are way too fragmented and fragile and are infested with the most deluded, rabid “fans” there are, each and everyone of them mired in truckloads of “no true scottsman” fallacies.

Apple has a vertically integrated tech stack - there is one DE, one WM, one codebase for every product they sell and they are free to focus their sinister efforts elsewhere, backed by the deepest coffers there are.

contrast this with the myriad of distros, package managers, DEs, WMs, etc. each pulling in a different direction, abandoned paths and duplicated efforts galore, done predominantly with no funds to speak of; and if there are any, they are squandered on… what was it, shamans?

no math in this universe is gonna make team #2 catch up to team #1, let alone surpass it.

you should definitely pick up a oneplus 6 or POCO F1 or similar (8 GB RAM), they should be in the $50 range and play around with it. the OS will get better with participation and there’s a number of things you can do on there that’s downright impossible on Android. I’m just cautioning that it’s not a substitute; but neither was Linux not that long ago.

nowhere close to being daily driver material. and I don’t mean the esoteric stuff you mention (NFC, 5G, etc.) I mean just normal, everyday stuff, like you turn it on and it works. source: I own the fastest device supported by pmOS and no UI (gnome, phosh, plasma, etc) works even remotely acceptable.

this is a fun project to tinker with and marvel at some choices made but if you’re thinking you can switch, that’s simply not an item on the menu.

them guys are working on super-complex stuff with no funds to speak of and expecting anything resembling an OS that’s developed for close to two decades by the richest corporations in the world isn’t realistic.