[avar]

You're asserting a lot of things without any specifics to back them up. I've been using Linux-based systems for a long time and the quality of the kernel has never posed any sort of practical issue for me.

If Linus had chosen a small team and taken his time to do anything I'm sure the Linux kernel could have ended up like OpenBSD or similar systems. A very high quality OS that takes its time to do everything to the point where users more interested in a practical OS would have looked elsewhere.

[humdumb]

Could you define "practical OS"?

What specifically do you want this OS to be able to do? (Note that we've reached a point where no user necesarily needs to restrict themselves to a single OS. They could use different OS's on the same computer for different purposes. This was not always so easy to do. It will continue to get easier.)

[rjsw]

The code in the Linux kernel can make adding new features harder than it needs to be. The network stack is one area that could be better designed.