The kernel is something that almost no one actually thinks about directly though, it would be like thinking about nuts and bolts instead of the dashboard.
I think that concern is overblown.... a lot of tablet and phone users cannot actually be counted because they never would have used a laptop or desktop anyway.
The only factor contributing to actual shrinkage is people just plain being more generally ignorant or dumbed down than they were previously for specific tasks.... they are becoming umpa lumpa's. You literally have a generation of teenagers that cannot really understand how a traditional desktop machine functions.... nvm that they cannot figure out how Outlook works.... they want everything thought out for them.... which is why the "things as a service" is actually attractive to the little lemmings.
Yes, the competition with Windows that many simply don't actually want to admit is a competition, they want to pretend it's not serious so they never have to get serious. At this point the only thing driving the Desktop Distro..... is Windows overrreach. You have waves of people being forced to try Linux because each iteration of Windows is becoming worse and only a fraction not going back to Windows because.... even with all it's problems it still functions better for the general user than Linux ever has..... like Mac though most of the time the only fix for systemic Windows problems requires you to buy your way out..... which is not something you can do for Linux.
