The real question is why the FUD
I would say it is at the very least an admission that Linux really is a competing product. I would also say that the FUD is coporate funded mindwashing so as to prevent people from finding out if Linux is a good fit for them.
The fact that there is still FUD today indicates a fear that Linux might truly compete if the public was left free to evaluate and compare Linux to other solutions. That fear is almost a good thing...
It just like that supposed 1% market share which is probably a crap statistic for very long time. Why even care how many Linux installs there are if not to try and convince the public that Linux is crap. And how do you really track and measure that which is not sold and counted in the first place?
In fact, anyone who accepts any information that they receive as fact without verification from mutliple sources or empirical data is a fool. That goes for what you get from school. Everything from revisionist histories to computer science is a potential lie, or at least an exageration.
The motivation for Linux FUD, may it be sucking up or bullying, is clearly coming from fear of not competing otherwise. The next question is how to make that fear come true?
