>The Linux kernel is a complete unknown to the vast majority of people on the planet, yes. But it runs so much of the Internet behind the scenes that I don't think it's fair to say that it only touches the lives of "a small percentage" of the people
I encourage you to reconsider your position on this. Look for yourself here:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
There are 7 billion people on the planet. Of that 7 billions, 2.4 billion use the Internet. That's 34.3% of people that don't even use the Internet, let alone have their lives touched by the Linux kernel.
Then you add to it that if it were not Linux running a server, it would be another operating system that would've been that particular system administrator's second preference.
The Linux kernel is an amazing thing, but it doesn't compare to the moon landing. As I said, the majority of people in the world would think you were a god if you landed on the moon and returned safely.
2/3 of the people in the world wouldn't even notice if Linux was never invented since they don't even use the Internet. The percentage of people that use the Internet and are impacted even indirectly by Linux is even smaller.
