But I don't think the point was a 'better' desktop but an interesting or experimental one. Or simply just for fun.
We can often relearn valuable things from the past by recreating them. It's usually not enough to just look at pictures of it or hear stories. Plus many "new" UX and software problems were dealt with in the past and reappear later with new platforms, hardware, and UI concepts which start over from scratch.
Sure, for you, because apparently you just need a web kiosk and an ssh server. Some of us actually do want a personal desktop computer.
I'm using CDE on Linux (originally Debian but now Ubuntu) and do nearly everything in a Chrome or Console window. Everything works as expected and I like the old, flat, motif look.