When I launched the development of the GNU system I explicitly said the purpose of developing this system is so we can use our computers and have freedom thus if you use some other free system instead but you have freedom then it's a success. It's not popularity for our code but it's success for our goal.
Most people have no concept of how an automatic transmission works yet they know how to drive a car. You don't have to study physics to understand the laws of motion to drive a car. You don't have to understand any of this stuff to use Macintosh.