To make Linux on the desktop successful on a level comparable to Windows and macOS, it is key to think about the Linux desktop as a core OS platform that makes certain platform stability guarantees to developers, rather than a bunch of packages distributed by a Linux distribution. As of today, there is a number of issues making the deployment of applications to the Linux desktop unnecessarily cumbersome. In this talk we will highlight real-world difficulties in using the Linux desktop platform as of today, and present some ideas on how to fix them.