I have no problems with the Nvidia driver on Arch, and haven't had an issue in over a year. Everything runs rock solid, I've never had the display freeze or crash, and it runs a truckload of games in Wine.
Linux becoming a leading desktop OS is all about defaults. Unless it is sold in Best Buy on laptops as a default option, priced below the Windows variant license costs, it will always be a niche product because it requires users to go absurdly out of their way to find or install it.
The Steambox is much more likely to rectify that. Consumer Linux PCs in the guise of game consoles will get it wide deployment.
Linux does have some competitive advantages that may encourage stores to sell it pre-installed.
First, it is cheaper, so the store can advertise lower prices.
Second, many Linux distros look really nice, so if they have them set up on display their will be people who by it for that reason. Then, the first mover would get a reputation as the place that sells that awesome looking computer (and cheaper than the others).
Third, their is little direct cost to trying. They can install it on a few laptops, then if it doesn't work, re-image windows on them.
Of course, (I suspect) the main reason this has not happened yet is the (legitamite) fear that customers would be the computer and then say 'it doesn't work', when it cannot run software X, or open file Y.
Linux becoming a leading desktop OS is all about defaults. Unless it is sold in Best Buy on laptops as a default option, priced below the Windows variant license costs, it will always be a niche product because it requires users to go absurdly out of their way to find or install it.
The Steambox is much more likely to rectify that. Consumer Linux PCs in the guise of game consoles will get it wide deployment.