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One reason is to use infrared remotes with an HTPC.

With LIRC (and now possibly this more performant solution), you could use pretty much any remote you could find with your computer, with cheaply available and DIY receivers.

It's great not to need to use a keyboard and mouse to control something like Kodi, and be able to use the same remote you use for your TV.

Linux runs on millions of set-top boxes, TVs, DVRs, ...

Infrared used to be used prior to Bluetooth to transfer data between phones and PCs. The speed was useless for anything significant but you could send small files (business cards, text files, etc).