I'll try to be respectful. :)
While I agree that most "regular users" aren't a great fit for desktop Linux, your information is quite out of date. Ubuntu 10.4 is well over a decade old, and modern Ubuntu will install without difficulty on any supported modern hardware, as will Debian, Mint, and any other distribution designed for desktop use.
Also, arguably, "the year of desktop Linux" arrived as soon as Android and Chromebooks came out. They're not Linux as you know it, necessarily, but they are Linux under the covers, more or less, and they are proof that an end-user-friendly Linux is possible, although traditional users such as myself aren't crazy about the level of dumbing-down and choice-removal that would be needed in order to make it universally popular.
I for one am OK with the way things are playing out. I don't want Linux to be more popular if, in order to do so, it has to stop being Linux.
But my wish list: (a) Wayland is finished and somewhat de-fragmented (most compositors implement a sufficient API and in the same way so coders can code to it without relying on a specific desktop environment). (b) Systemd dies horribly in a fire. (c) We continue to have desktop environment options other than KDE and Gnome. (d) Most software that can become Web-based does so. (e) Hardware vendors finally figure out that desktop Linux, while maybe not the biggest part of the desktop market, is still well worthy of their support. (f) The recent moves away from software freedom get smacked down in courts all over the world. (g) We eventually standardize on more or less one of the modern packaging formats (AppImage, Flatpak, or Snap). (h) Python gets a modern packaging and deployment story. (i) People gradually stop using C and C++ where they don't belong; most end-user apps should use mostly higher-level, and safer, languages.