Concern regarding public opinion on GNOME shifting.
I've been using GNOME since 2021, moving from Plasma to GNOME 40. I love it so much, unbelievably much. I love how consistent the design is, in WM, first-party apps, as well as numerous 3rd party apps. Over the years I found some disagreements with some decisions, but overall, I don't have a preferable alternative, and still love GNOME. I still think it's the best thought-out desktop environment yet.
Because of that, it feels like such a shame so many people who switch from windows to Linux now feel like using KDE Plasma. Basically everyone either recommends distros that ship with Plasma or other non-gnome Desktop by default. Much of the median Linux users online voice opinions against Gnome, pushing people away from even trying it out.
As it now stands, I feel like GNOME is on a trajectory to becoming a niche DE. It won't happen immediately, but the course is clear. Historically GNOME distros, such as Fedora Workstation, have upgraded Plasma into a first-class edition, marketing it alongside their current GNOME Workstation.It's understandable since many people are looking for a KDE distro specifically and KDE was often left in the back-alleys of "spins" and "flavors" until recently.
It does worry me, I would like the GNOME project to succeed and keep delivering a great user experience. With major distros beginning to shift away, it looks possible that the future of GNOME will be rockier than today.