And if my assertion that intention prediction and voice search will be competitive features for users, features that rely on mass data collection and expensive top talent, then I think organizations like Canonical or RedHat will fall behind in the desktop/mobile/user os space.
Apple's no M$, but they are certainly competitive.
When I think of what organizations will be competing on machine-learning backed features like intention prediction or voice search, I think of Apple, Microsoft, or Google. Those OS features won't be inside the OS. They'll be backed by a wealth of proprietary data hidden behind company servers.
I think user expectations for what a modern OS ought do will evolve, and I don't think Canonical or Redhat will be able to catch up to Microsoft, Apple, or Google.
Eventually, what we think of "Linux OS" will be Android (and if you want, OS X) and maybe some other offerings by these big giants, but the most user-demanded features won't be on the OS. Therefore, Samsung can't just fork Android and expect to compete sans Google, and Canonical or Redhat won't be able to compete either.
Apple can't take code from Linux as the code is GPL licensed. OSX is largely based on NeXT and BSD. Linux and OSX are both POSIXish though.
The desktop / personal user domain is looking like it's in the early stages of transformation, with mass data collection to support voice search and user intent prediction. While there's something to be said for privacy, I don't think consumers will care enough, and I don't think desktop linux systems outside of whatever Google may make is going to be adequately competitive.
This will likely not be a server concern. Engineers probably won't be interested in a service that opaquely collects data and sends it off to remote locations just so that they can say, "Cortana, run the Ansible script to redeploy my API server." But desktop users would find value in saying, "Cortana, move all email from unknown entities to my todo list."