It seems to me that Linux usage is growing nicely, just not in the traditional setting. Everyone assumed that for Linux to catch on, it would have to hit the desktop first, but that view now seems backwards.

Linux is now on the phones that people are buying. It's on the thin clients that serve up their favorite websites. And at the elite end of technology, a variant Unix sold by Apple is directly challenging Microsoft's hold over the desktop. Apple has made a Unix-based OS trendy.

And for the first time that I can remember since the mid 80's, regular people are buying computers not loaded with Windows. That seemed unthinkable just a few years ago, but again, Apple made it not just possible but cool.

It takes time for the general public to switch to new technology, but it is happening. Ubuntu and Mint Linux look pretty competitive now and are situated to provide a nice alternative for people looking for affordable OS X.

Linux will continue to gain traction on the desktop. It just may be that the desktop gets adopted last.

FUD and more FUD. Desktop Linux will never die, because the people who use it are die-hard themselves. Contrary to what many think, the open source desktop is here to stay.

I think what he's saying is that the dream of it becoming ubiquitous like Windows is dead. I think, for a while at least, many thought that Linux could make a serious dent in the commercial desktop market dominated by Windows.