Is
this the year of Linux on the desktop?
Linux is a great piece of technology that 99%+ of people don't need to care about, but 100% of people will come into unknowing contact with whenever they go online as the vast majority of web sites run on it (including all of mine). Personally, I'd no sooner use Linux on my desktop every day than I'd use my KP to film a wedding.
As for DarkTable, I thought I'd give it a try recently — it lasted about 5 minutes before I deleted it. It may well be a very capable image processor, but boy could they use some designers to whip that UI into something recognisable. I've been mucking about with computers for nearly 40 years and have the skills to figure out just about any software... but I don't
want to have to figure out a tool like that. If Lightroom is about an 8-out-of-10 on the usability scale, then DarkTable is about a 2.
It is an open secret that Serif will, eventually, release a DAM capability within their Affinity suite of products. Given their performance to date, that's what I will end up using long term, I think. Especially if it comes as a "dark room" persona for the already very capable Affinity Photo.