How do you view the future of linux?

Apologies if the title seems like a question that is too vague to be answered directly. I will develop on the title and my ideas in the next few paras.

Well, I love linux and Foss in general, I really do. In fact I have been using linux exclusively for 5 years now, it's the current state of growth of linux that just intrigues me.

It's pretty surprising to me that something like linux that is built with great ideals and motives is lagging behind a OS that is worse in many ways yet is only used by users because apparently the said company is "locking" them in.

So for example, in my college there are specific courses specifically dedicated to teaching you "Word" and other MS tools because apparently that's what you need in business. The college's stance is understandable but not without any questions. Why would they not be promoters of foss? Why would they not take a negative stance on telemetry of said products?

Even worse is the strangle of said products in work and businesses, average joe refuses to work with anything other than MS because he hates change and that's true - sure it's psychology but again that's a problem.

Linux has failed to eradicate other OSes despite being objectively better in many ways. And this just feels to like me a terrible thing - a win for the multi billionaire companies and a loss for humans as a society. This is consistent with what I observe among the rising trend of dark patterns everywhere.

The future looks very grim for me, it just feels as if I'll always be surrounded by MS product. All my coworkers, friends and professors and everyone will never give up on MS. They will never realize what freedom is and will keep on "giving in", ultimately wasting tons of resources and losing great productivity in the long run.

What do you think about all of this? Sorry if the post is long, it's hard to accurately describe what I feel about the current situation and I want to hear what others have to say on this matter. Sometimes I feel like I am overly obsessed with FOSs and it's a rabbit hole that I am getting into - thus, it's necessary to hear what is and what isn't right in this sort of context.

Tldr: when will be the year of linux desktop? Will we be just consumed by dark patterns and big companies like MS and never break the strangle they have over average joes?