+1. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, and the team building the Linux subsystem at Microsoft took note:
https://jhatax.blogspot.com/2016/11/developers-windows-linux.... Microsoft is truly hungry to win back developers, and the team is willing to do what it takes to bring non-Windows developers into the fold.
Apple seems to still be operating as if it can only focus on one core platform at any given time as opposed to two or three. The talk on HN is only about the core OSes -- macOS and iOS -- but what about their productivity apps? They haven't seen a meaningful update in years (Pages, Keynote, etc. in case you are unaware).
With their huge cash reserves, Apple needs to recognize that it can build multiple platforms in parallel without sacrificing the quality of either. It could very well be that Jony Ive not being a core software guy is the issue. It could not. I don't have insider access. I will say this: Apple needs a hard core software leader and it doesn't seem to have one today. That's the 'real void'.