linuxmemes

And even then, most that can will just stick to what they know (this is obviously part of the mindset issue that you speak of).

It's the change. People hate change, in general, not just in IT.

IT workers are used to frequent changes and they usually adapt quickly, so it's not such a huge problem for them. But, most people aren't used to change, they like things pretty much static.

If mainstream devices were sold with Linux on them, it would get over that hurdle, and also get over the daunting hurdle of "ok I want to switch to Linux, what's a good distro?" hurdle, to which people online will say everything from Debian to fucking Arch Linux.

I've seen people recommend Arch for a beginner, that's a terrible choice... it will drive potential users away. I usually recommend Mint for beginners, LMDE mostly nowadays, ince Ubuntu isn't what it used to be and that will most probably leave a skewed picture to the user of what Linux is. Yes, there are tools that make things easier, but under the hood there is no UI, it's all commands. You wanna jump in, go right ahed. You don't feel OK with that, that's fine as well, use whatever GUI tools you like, LMDE has plenty of them.

Chromebooks and the Steam Deck prove that Linux isn't unviable. People just won't install it of their own volition.

Yep, pretty much the truth. This basically means that if, oh let's say, Debian cut a deal with some laptop/PC manufacturers, Linux could actually be used by many users.