I disagree, actually. I think we already have Windows and OSX for that, and even Android and Chromebooks. I think the biggest value of Linux Desktop is that it is an experimental playground for a melting pot of ideas.

I have used Linux on the desktop exclusively at home since ~1998 and, like Miguel, I went through a lot of pain. Heck, I remember the days when I couldn't even boot my machine without tampering with the kernel. And to compare that to what we now have, well its a world apart. I have been using Debian Testing for some 8 years or more and in that period I probably had one or two (at the very most) dist-upgrades that borked my system. And those have always been due to binary NVidia drivers.

For me, the importance of Linux is that it offers something that no one else can offer - I could take this exact same setup back to my home country and start teaching kids and they would have exactly the same setup as me, with top tools, even though their hardware would be extremely old. I do not think its important that Linux takes over the desktop, much as we all would love it. What is important is that it remains viable without changing its fundamental characteristics. And that, I think, has already been achieved.