Alan,
I also look forward to that day. I imagine we'll see it about the time when using these different variants requires as little documentation and training as sampling a new and exotic food dish.
Unfortunately your car analogy is a lot more on the mark. If someone invests a few years in learning how to maintain and repair mid 80s Hondas, a 2004 Chevy or Ford doesn't hold the same appeal as it would to someone who hasn't made that investment. *Even if the Chevy or Ford has more or better features.
It's the investment in learning how a system works that tends to tie people to their OS and distribution choices. I'm not saying choice is bad. Choice is good! but there is such a thing as too much choice. If you have a thousand pennies that all look alike from a distance, but one of them is extremely rare and valuable, you'll have a much harder time locating the item of great worth than you would if you only had ten pennies to examine and choose from.
Luckily for all of us, *nices have far more similarities than they do differences but there is still a long way to go in terms of standardizing on names and tools.
Interesting thread tangent though!
Micah