fuck gatekeepers. the linux kernel doesn't deserve new, talented people bringing fresh, useful and modern approaches to the project; their time and effort is only wasted there. i know it's not right, but part of me wishes linux rots and something better takes its place.
bitterness aside, i hope marcan gets the rest he needs. i wish him the best.
The latter is I think aiming for Linux ABI compatibility.
I had never hard of Asterinas, but this sounds like a the best approach to me. I believe alternative OS's need to act as (near) drop-in replacements if they want to be used as daily drivers. ABI-incompatible alternatives might be fine for narrower use cases, but most people wouldn't even try out a desktop OS that doesn't support most of the hardware and software they already use.