Debian woody (2002) shipped gnustep. I tried it back then, but as far as I remember, it was weird enough that anybody who didn't have NEXTSTEP experience would bounce right off. The floating menus, the weird scrollbars, etc. There were also no non-trivial applications that I can remember.
People back then were looking for something that would be familiar to Windows/Mac users. GNUStep (at least at the time) was not interested in being that.
People back then were looking for something that would be familiar to Windows/Mac users. GNUStep (at least at the time) was not interested in being that.