I think part of the problem is that Linux basically supports every use case. Sometimes the scope needs to reduce, older hardware needs to be abandoned, etc.

The article cites some hardware being incompatible with Rust as part of the issue, but perhaps what needs to change is that a line in the sand needs to be drawn over which hardware is accepted. The legacy hardware can be left to the forks developed by paid employees for their businesses own personal use.

Linux doesn't need to become as hardline on hardware as Windows 11, but the distros where the maintainers are at risk of burnout can certainly afford to abandon at least some hardware. Apparently Rust doesn't support alpha (1992-2007), hppa (1986-2008), ia64 (2001-2019), m68k (1979-1994), or s390 (1990-2004). All of these are at least 18 years old, with the exception of ia64, but apparently the Linux kernel already dropped support in 2024.