I don't actually follow other operating systems much. I don't compete - I just worry about making Linux better than itself, not others.

The thing with Linux is that the developers themselves are actually customers too: that has always been an important part of Linux.

Working in lock-step simply isn't a good idea. Never has been, never will be.

No problem is too big it can't be run away from

If you have ever done any security work - and it did not involve the concept of "network of trust" - it wasn't security work, it was - masturbation. I don't know what you were doing. But trust me, it's the only way you can do security, it's the only way you can do development.

The fact that ACPI was designed by a group of monkeys high on LSD, and is some of the worst designs in the industry obviously makes running it at any point pretty damn ugly.

That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.