Asklemmy

I disagree with the example of operating systems, unfortunately. Linux in my experience is just a worse user experience than either Windows or Mac OS. I know that probably won't be a popular opinion around here, but I think that most users would agree as well. I've never used a linux OS that was intended for daily use that felt anywhere near as intuitive and easy to understand as Windows or Mac os.

I agree with you in general, but I think that what naturally tends to happen in markets is that one product gets improved to the point of being "the best" among its competitors and starts to really pull away, and once people are in they are in- most people don't want to switch from the OS they have, to use your example, to another one unless their current OS is REALLY not doing something they need to be able to do to the point where switching would be easier.

A lot of platforms don't start out intending to completely, 100% outcompete everyone else in their marketspace- I actually think Amazon is a great example of that. But once they start to take over, they don't stop because the economic system we have makes it both very difficult to do so and also very lucrative to keep it going

And in some things, unity is kind of a good thing. I think Lemmy (and the rest of the fediverse for that matter) needs to figure out a way to centralize user logins- the fact that your instance could get taken down by its creators and lose your account altogether isn't a great one. Yes, that's a risk with a site like Reddit too, but it's significantly less likely over there.