If Linux is ever to become mainsteam the way OSX and Windows are then 'apostasy' needs not be accommodated.

Now you can debate whether the philosophy of the Linux and open-source community is for creating a standardized product that can be easily adopted and used by the mainstream user-base. But for companies like Intel, I understand why they want to push it in that direction.

Linux already is mainstream, just look at the success that Android has had.

And there are still competing frameworks out there that are objectively better than the decided on counterparts.

ALSA replaced OSS, then OSS4 came out. The latter is more stable and can do more things than the former can do alone, such as per application volume controls, yet it's only used in the BSD sphere.

Likewise, OpenRC is a great replacement for SysVinit without changing the overall structure of the init system, unlike systemd which attempts to consolidate all of those parts into 'optional' modules that other projects are making compulsory e.g. Gnome Shell has a hard dependency on systemd as logind cannot be used alone any more, not to mention the large changes to the init design.

Linux doesn't need to become mainstream the way OS X and Windows are. Linux is mainstream the way Linux is, and will continue to be with Android, Steambox, and a huge chunk of the smart TVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and other embedded device markets.