> Writing something “cool” nowadays is not enough to be taken from the folks seriously.
Linux' success was not due to this message. I mean, the message advertised a toy OS in a group devoted to toy OSs, which naturally helped attract contributors, but it wasn't sue to that post why nowadays half the world runs on linux. Linux was also not the only FLOSS OS kernel out at that time, nor was it even working. In fact, arguably what made linux the success was the fact that, years later, they managed to get a working UNIX clone to run the full GNU stack, thus providing just enough features to offer a tool with practical use for a very specific use (servers).
Even then the main driving force wasn't the kernel itself but the distributions that managed to provide convenient software bundles that users could simply pickup and test and use. For those projects, providing those websites and templates and howtos and videos and tutorials was essential to get their foot on the door,because otherwise the barrier to entry would remain high and higher than any of their competitors'.