> Beginners no longer have to setup their own machine/server, they can simply create an account on c9.io, they don't even have to pay for it and bam you have a full ubuntu workspace ready instantly without any effort

I already have a full Linux workspace ready instantly. I'm typing this in it right now. It's my laptop.

Linux is so simple to use now that my liberal-arts relatives are using it. Why use expensive, legacy, less-powerful OSes like Windows or macOS when Linux is available? Why run something over a net link when Linux can run locally?