It wasn't just a decade ago. They were still using the linear compressors until very recently - I'm not sure if some models might even still have them? It's hard to tell since it's no longer something they're advertising as a feature.
LG certainly tried very hard for many years to get these compressors to work. I think because these failures were mostly only in North America despite the compressors being used globally.
They kept throwing out excuses for why the compressors weren't working, none of which panned out. First it was, people are installing the fridges wrong without enough clearance and choking out airflow. Well, even the ones installed freestanding were having failures, so that didn't make sense. Then they went to: you just need to replace with this revised design, you need to do this software update, etc. None of the many attempts at "fixes" worked. It was a shame because these were otherwise nice fridges.
Then they said: oh the problem is the R-134A refrigerant, these compressors were originally designed for R-600A, once North America switches to R-600A like the rest of the world, it will work just fine. Nope, the switch happened and the R-600A compressors were failing too. So now they seem to have thrown in the towel and are moving to reciprocating compressors. Perhaps they were just too weak to keep up with the larger sized American fridges.
Those linear conpressors of~a decade ago(?) were a big problem-valve plate breaks up and LG was evasive on repairs...The bad,100% fail rate,linear compressors were replaced with standard rotary motor recip compressors for those who got their fridges fixed.
