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But not the variety of desktop applications as we currently see on Mac and Windows. I mean, we ARE talking about desktop applications, aren't we?

As I said on Digg, most of these "Desktop Linux" companies have been pushing the operating system as their main and only product, but have woefully neglected to give as much attention to the applications which are used on their respective desktop flavors.

As a result, the only way by which most people will be exposed to these applications is if they're ported to either Windows or Mac.

GNOME did that a while back; now, KDE follows suit.

But with the constant barrage of "OMG! This is the year of Desktop Linux!" love letters from Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols telling us that Linux has just gotten one, eentsy-weentsy step closer to Windows-size acceptance on the desktop, doesn't this most recent development contradict such statements?

There is an evident disconnect here: KDE wants to get a wider acceptance of their application by users, while Linux distributors want to get a wider acceptance of their distributions by users.

If KDE was, until now, so inextricably tied to these Linux distributions for carriage, then what went wrong? Why is the KDE project so compelled to "see other people" if Desktop Linux is supposed to be growing oh-so-substantially?

IMO, this means that the Linux universe of desktop distributions have failed, big time.

They have failed to develop (or take a leading role in the development of) a base of desktop applications that will deserve the attention of people who are seeking for an operating system that will exceed their expectations.

Few of these distributors have succeeded in cultivating a software ecosystem that is equivalent with the brand: Novell (acquired Ximian) and Red Hat (acquired JBoss) are the only two which come to mind.

And they have failed in attracting the amount of developers that Mac and Windows possess within their ranks.

Either that, or we've been lied to one too many times by the Linux media.