Bitcoin is currently a success in the same way Linux is/was a success: in a very tiny niche (geeks, sysadmins, tech-savvy folks, etc ...). Unfortunately, Linux never came out of that niche. It's still in there 15+ years later
I am not a Linux fan, but when I see an Android phone or a MacBook Pro running OS X I see Linux powered devices. Those are hardly niche products.
http://i.imgur.com/rAP3rHm.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/eaE0tVD.pngFair enough about Android.
Not so about OSX which is built on top of BSD
In both cases, much of the original spirit of Linux (openness & freedom) has been watered down to the extreme.
I'm not sure I'd be happy if making bitcoin successful meant curtailing its key attribute to the extent android and OSX have ravaged the original attributes of Linux and BSD. On an Android phone, half of the things you can do with a desktop are impossible unless you root your phone. The phone isn't really yours anymore.
