I wouldn’t say Linux was sub par or has come a long way compared to other operating systems. It’s always been a better OS than windows but it has different goals. There’s never been a time where a sane person would use a Windows server for example. But with a smaller user base and less hand holding for users, Linux has historically not gotten a lot of mainstream software. Gaming improved almost entirely because Valve threw resources at it.
Driver support has gotten really good though. I’ve been using Linux full time since about 2004. I used to buy hardware with Linux support in mind and it was kind of a pain in the ass. Now I don’t even think about it. Even my printer works with no fussing. I’m not a PC gamer so I don’t have any direct experience but I think Nvidia drivers are the only real pain point left.
Why would pigs and bootlickers killing each other be a bad thing?