From a purely technical perspective, there is little or no reason why GNU/Linux-powered devices should cease to thrive. They could even become a de facto choice in consumer appliances for years to come. In turn, more broadly we might find desktop deployments that consistently use GNU/Linux as the platform of choice. However, the greater barriers to the GNU/Linux desktop are more subtle.

Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, keeps insisting that Microsoft, by failing to compete based on technical merits, resorts to fear, uncertainty and doubt techniques -- sometimes going as far as intimidation. More recently, Torvalds said he was becoming concerned about what he described as "external issues -- especially patents."

This makes a classic case where legacy products are unable to compete, so laws and/or technical policies are being modified using sources of great influence while psychological games are being played. This alters the rules of the competition, creating a "moving goalposts" scenario which seeks to reverse the tipping point.

More Here