> The core of the kernel is actually pretty small and very well understood and maintained.

I still find that even Linux based OSes like Ubuntu crash at least once a month or so. I've had to boot into initrd and manually do fsck on my laptop once this year. I'm not a software guy but I assume the reason for all this crappiness (windows as well) is because of all the patents on operating system stuff by Microsoft and Google. I'm saying this slightly tongue in cheek beacuse as a display guy I frequently see software people say display technologies suck because of all the patents so I assume that's what they experience in their own industry?