[Joeboy]

But, I don't particularly "want Linux to succeed". I want an OS to succeed that's free, and doesn't suck for my purposes. This article seems to assume that we "want Linux to succeed" simply because we're rooting for our home team.

Edit: To clarify, I'm not saying I don't want Linux to succeed. I'm saying that if that success comes at the cost of making it suck more or be less Free, that will be a Pyrrhic victory.

[skriticos2]

1. When I look for work, people expect me to use a particular OS I'm not very found of and it seems natural to them. I'd definitely would like to see more diversification and Linux is by far the best chance for that. So yes, I want it to succeed. I want my next employer to tell me the interfaces they have and let me figure out how to work with it instead of forcing me into their restricted worldview.

2. I'm not an administrator. I'm a software guy. And I want to make money to buy food and shelter and stuff. I want the Linux desktop to succeed because then I have a userbase that has various needs and is willing to spend money to fulfill the needs. Yes, I want to create beautiful "works out of the box" apps that people want to spend money for. Things like the Ubuntu software center and Steam are pointing the way there, but we still have a long way to go. And nobody else seems to be on this path.

[StavrosK]

By the transitive property, and assuming Linux doesn't suck for your purposes (probably a fair assumption), you want Linux to succeed.

[dhimes]

simply because we're rooting for our home team

It would be good for Linux to succeed just to have competition- even if there was a better (for me) OS I would still want Linux to succeed so in the distant future I will still have a choice and an even better OS spurred on by competition.

[Shorel]

Go Hurd!