For me, as Linux on the desktop got more and more mainstream, I started to feel more and more left out. I moved from Debian to Ubuntu because I thought "I just want my computer to work without having to mess with it". Over time, Ubuntu made many decisions that I disagreed with and I spent huge amounts of effort trying to figure out how to uninstall things (which is quite difficult for a Debian based distro since the configuration often assumes you want everything integrated).

I finally ended up with an Arch system running xmonad and huge numbers of terminal based apps. I'm finally happy with my system again. What I realized is that I specifically don't want a Mac-like/Windows-like/shinkwrapped experience. I want choice and freedom, because what I like is not necessarily what the masses (or Mark Shuttleworth or Redhat or Gnome developers) want.

I kind of picked on your post because even though it is kind of negative, I think there are quite a lot of people who think the same way. It's a valid opinion, but a bit unfortunate. The advantage of a (dare I say Gnu/) Linux system or a BSD system is the freedom from being told how you are going to use your computer. It's not having to put up with some stupid design decision just because it was pushed by a popular company and now the masses are used to it. It the ability to explore, experiment and create with absolutely no boundaries.

It is popular enough and gives me more of everything I want than OSes that are more visible to the masses.