32 ms·

Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

630 points by cglong 3y ago

genmud 3y ago
Probably 70 or 80% of cloud workloads are Linux, and like 60% of embedded devices, of which there are billions. And of those embedded/mobile devices, the rest will either be running iOS, vxworks, freertos or zephyr. I think the joke has always been "this is the year of Linux", but in all honesty... it's the decade of Linux. It's probably one of the few areas where there is growth in computing capacity and by far most of the net new is running Linux.
- andsoitis 3y ago
  Consumers don't know any of that. The article is about desktop penetration. There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. Still, congratulations on hitting 3% desktop share.
  - ixaxaar 3y ago
    > There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. What do you mean? Android is Linux!
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      Android uses the Linux kernel, with a Java/Kotlin userspace.
      - bruce511 3y ago
        As RMS is quick to point out "linux" is only -ever- the kernel. So yes, android is 100% Linux. It is not Gnu/Linux though. Which is what the desktop folk are celebrating. This is one case where the distinction actually is important.
        pjmlp 3y ago
        A very important distinction indeed, as the Termux folks keep hitting walls in their thought process that Android/Linux is GNU/Linux. Or how despite having an endless choice of games, and applications, almost none of them are available in GNU/Linux.
    - andsoitis 3y ago
      > What do you mean? Android is Linux! Yes, which is why I said “and signal”, which is to say it isn’t marketed as such and so consumers don’t know that. To them, they’re running Android OS, for better or worse.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    > There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. This is plain wrong. Sent from my GNU/Linux smartphone Librem 5.
- photonbeam 3y ago
  Are there really 20-30% of cloud workloads not on Linux? What do they do? Who uses them?
  - COGlory 3y ago
    I assume Microsoft SQL?
    - mcny 3y ago
      > I assume Microsoft SQL? Yes! Especially if your application is legacy/old and requires Windows anyway. I used to think why people would do that when you can dockerize SQL Server and just use Debian or Fedora or whatever but I once tried that on a legacy application and things... were not quite right. It was easier to install on Windows than to debug the issue so I just let it go. I think things would be different if the code was new or I was familiar with it enough to anticipate how it could break in different ways. If the code/framework is new enough, it might be worthwhile diving into that rabbithole.
    - borissk 3y ago
      Microsoft SQL Server runs on Linux and Windows.
      - trimethylpurine 3y ago
        But you need SSMS on a Windows client to manage it effectively. Unless you are doing everything cli, which is just not practical in the enterprise. Anyway, running it in Linux is pretty niche. Cool for show and tell, but you need balls of steel if you're going to try running even a small $100 million dollar business on it.
        borissk 3y ago
        https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/download-azure-data-studio?view=sql-server-ver16&tabs=redhat-install%2Credhat-uninstall https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/down... It's fully supported by Microsoft on Linux, so if you run into technical problems you have a support line to call.
- rvz 3y ago
  The article is specifically about ‘desktop’ market share and not the other markets where Linux is used, which is irrelevant.
  - coding123 3y ago
    Linux is irrelevant in other markets?
    - throwaway2990 3y ago
      It is when you’re talking specifically about desktop usage.
      - rvz 3y ago
        Precisely. Quite hilarious to see some HNers who cannot even read the title of the article and are compelled or have the urge to bring up other irrelevant statistics to hide the little to no desktop usage when compared to other desktop operating systems.
        Joker_vD 3y ago
        The more things change... I've seen mostly identical (in spirit, not in technical details) discussions about the "Year of Linux on Desktop" in 2013, which was 10 years ago. I am quite sure I can safely bet the discussions 20 years ago, in 2003, were also pretty much the same.
        hollerith 3y ago
        1999 was the first year of Linux on the desktop if I remember correctly.
  - genmud 3y ago
    Agreed, the article is irrelevant because it talks about desktop Linux market share.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  Good luck trying to run a proper GNU/Linux on those Android devices. Actually tbere are plenty of other options for embedded. As for the server room, UNIX was already the winner there anyway, since the 1990's.
  - genmud 3y ago
    AOSP with the more modern kernels and less vendor garbage in giant forks will help with that. Unix was king in the 80s, maybe early 90s for anyone doing terminals, banks, government and universities were all ok the big iron train. But when nt3.1 and 3.5 came out, if you were a business not looking into it, you felt like you were behind the times. We had DEC and iris at our house, so weren't in a good position to switch, but it wasn't long before the change happened.
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      I might be a NT fan, yet I am the first to acknowledge NT never had a big market share on the server room. The only places where NT managed to succeed on server room have been Microsoft shops, or places where .NET was adopted as the main development stack. Workstations is another matter. In the 80's many banks were either on mainframes/micros, or using stuff like Novel Netware.
      - iso1631 3y ago
        > The only places where NT managed to succeed on server room have been Microsoft shops, or places where .NET was adopted as the main development stack. .NET came out well after NT was replaced with windows 2000 (unless you claim that 2000, and thus XP and later windows OSes were also NT) > In the 80's many banks were either on mainframes/micros, or using stuff like Novel Netware. In my experience in the late 90s NT crushed Netware. It rode the wave of computerisation of SMEs and gained massive amounts of users (with desktop often being 3.11 onwards rather than NT).
        pjmlp 3y ago
        .NET came in 2001, to be more precisely yes. Until then it was all about ASP, Outlook, and SMB shares, nothing else. All big stuff was on UNIX. Again, when talking about the server room. From 1999 to 2003, I was doing project delivery across Aix, Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT/2000, so I might have an idea of how our customer based actually had their server rooms configured. Likewise the university campus was wired to DG/UX, Solaris, eventually Red-Hat came into the picture as DG/UX server died. Computer labs desktops were a mixture Windows 9X, NT, Mac and some lucky professors had a couple of NeXT Cubes, which they eventually replaced by Red-Hat (before Apple's aquisition). So to each their own 1990's anecdote.
- Agentlien 3y ago
  I find it fascinating how ubiquitous Linux is. I'm my family we have two desktop computers and a laptop. One desktop is running Linux, the other and the laptop are windows. But we're also running Linux on all our phones, two tablets, two TVs, the vacuum cleaner, our router, and probably more devices I'm forgetting or not aware of.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    The Linux kernel, yes.
- constantcrying 3y ago
  >and like 60% of embedded devices Maybe 60% of embedded devices with an OS. But yes, Linux (and BSD) are quite dominant outside of the desktop market segment.
MBCook 3y ago
> While someone may seem the figure modest, it signifies a growing acceptance and recognition of the power and versatility of Linux. Does it? It’s 3%. If it was 15% or 20% maybe you could say that. It’s less than “unknown” and less than ChromeOS which is just over 4%. If it wasn’t a round number, I don’t think anyone would ever write this article because the number is just too small. It’s nice that it seems to be growing. I just don’t think this is a big achievement.
- hulitu 3y ago
  Who uses ChromeOS ? Here in EU I haven't seen or heard anyone using this.
  - raverbashing 3y ago
    From a quick search on online stores, it seems Chromebooks are not that rare, there's your answer pretty much
  - hysan 3y ago
    A lot of schools do.
  - mattnewton 3y ago
    Very common in schools in the US, because they are very cheap and easy to manage.
  - Retric 3y ago
    Everyone using Chromebooks? It’s popular with schools etc.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - dev_tty01 3y ago
    That’s the point. Hardly anyone uses Chrome OS, but it is still more than Linux.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Panino 3y ago
Somewhat recently, OpenBSD binaries for Chromium and Iridium were changed to identify as Linux instead of OpenBSD in the useragent, I think to pass dumb "security" webapps that refuse to talk to unknown clients. Firefox still identifies as OpenBSD.
robbyking 3y ago
It’s the year of the Linux desktop!
- resolutebat 3y ago
  Linux is the desktop OS of the future, and always will be.
  - DANmode 3y ago
    Heh. Funnier than most versions of this joke! But also: 3%!!
  - Georgelemental 3y ago
    Like the old saw about Brazil…
  - Animats 3y ago
    Windows may be the desktop OS of the past. If we still had Windows 7, with no ads, no recurring charges, and no built-in cloud services, I'd still be using it.
- andrewf 3y ago
  I, for one, welcome our new desktop overlords.
- MichaelMoser123 3y ago
  if they really start to shove ads in the start menu of windows 11 then Linux will have a real chance on the desktop. Also you don't need windows for office - you can have it in the browser, and google docs is enough for most users.
resolutebat 3y ago
Desktop market share.
electricduck 3y ago
I'm kinda surprised this entirely forgot to mention the SteamDeck. I'd love to know how much of an impact that had, considering apparently 3 million units have been sold (according to Valve). Alas, how many of those users know they are running Linux is another question.
- trustingtrust 3y ago
  >Alas, how many of those users know they are running Linux is another question. That's the whole point. Probably 99% of computer (anything that uses a processor I guess qualifies a computer these days) users in this world don't really care what's running underneath as long it gets the job done. If something can run linux underneath and can still pass as acceptable that's a huge win I think.
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  SteamDecks aren’t desktop PCs. If you were including gaming consoles/handhelds, then BSD would be way ahead of Linux with all the PlayStations that have been sold (and maybe with Nintendo switches too, depending on how you chose to count those).
  - qwytw 3y ago
    There is more to an 'OS' than the kernel. SteamDecks are indistinguishable from PCs, since they run more or less exactly the same software as a Linux desktop/laptop would.
    - AmericanChopper 3y ago
      It’s still not a desktop PC. You’ll notice that iOS, Android and iPadOS aren’t included in the list either, even though the devices that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience (and much more comprehensively than the steam deck can). At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? I would guess something very close to 0.
shmerl 3y ago
Good progress of Linux gaming probably contributed to this.
- gregman1 3y ago
  The decision of Microsoft to withdraw from Russia has had a significant impact as well, particularly due to the emergence of government-supported Linux distributions that are gaining popularity among various organizations and companies in the former USSR and BRICS nations.
  - shmerl 3y ago
    That never stopped pirates there so I doubt it's much of an incentive. The biggest driver of adoption is simply more computers sold with Linux pre-installed. Very small fraction of users ever installs an OS.
    - vkazanov 3y ago
      I've been buying machines with Linux preinstalled for 7-8 years now, both for myself, my wife and my kid. It is possible, and that's great, but boy Dell et al do obfuscate the choice on their sites. You have to know the machine exists, need to know the generation, the year, etc. It's almost as if they don't want people to buy these machines.
      - CatWChainsaw 3y ago
        I'm interested in this and other than System76 and the scant Dell options I'd be hard pressed to name more options. What do you know of?
hulitu 3y ago
They forgot to show windows version.
- timbit42 3y ago
  Click the link to the StatCounter website and then click the button for Windows versions.
incompatible 3y ago
Apparently at the expense of "unknown".
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > Apparently at the expense of "unknown". I'm pretty certain that the 'unknown' is almost all Linux or *BSD users. From the source of the data itself (https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology) > In other words we calculate our Global Stats on the basis of more than 5 billion page views per month, by people from all over the world onto our 1.5 million+ member sites. The majority of Linux desktop users that I know off are especially privacy focused and potentially blocking attempts at fingerprinting.
  - incompatible 3y ago
    Sure, and this may include setting their browser ID to make it look like they are on Windows.
  - leonidasv 3y ago
    More likely to be bots/crawlers.
hparadiz 3y ago
I've been daily driving Linux since March 2020. The only thing I miss is Adobe products. Most games work. VR is still a bit janky. I run Gentoo so I have typical bleeding edge upgrade problems but otherwise it's relatively stable.
Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
Don't know, it used to be 100% in my company in 2007 and now it is like 80% because there are some iOS developers who need macOS and designers who use Sketch, which is insanely great and which alone is worth buying an alApple computer and suffering macOS to run it.
- matdehaast 3y ago
  Have you used Figma? Feels like sketch got stuck in the Stone Age quickly once Figma made a performant browser based design tool
  - Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
    Yes, I have, and Sketch is far superior for me. So much that I would rather buy mac and Sketch than use Figma completely for free.
jeffchien 3y ago
It's curious that there seemed to be a 6% classification shift between Windows and Unknown in April, and that was reverted for the June data. I wonder what UA string caused that, and it honestly doesn't inspire confidence in their methodology if they don't double check a 6% shift.
laserbeam 3y ago
Every once in a while I'm tempted to switch back to Linux (I used to have that as my desktop between 10 and 15 years ago), but then I remember: - My DJ software (which I pay for) is not supported at all on Linux (likewise true for most common music production software). - The Affinity suite (which I paid for) is not supported on Linux. - The best debugger I can find (remedybg, which I paid for) doesn't work there. - and there are a few more niche ones. I just can't give up on half of my productive tools and trade them off for much jankier alternatives. I sadly cannot contribute to get to 4%.
- bruce511 3y ago
  Operating systems have a really high degree of lock-in. Such that while you -can- change OS, there's simply no incentive to do so. That's why you're still running the same OS you always have. [1] You accumulate software yes, but you also accumulate habits and knowledge. Changing OS means discarding all the accumulated knowledge, which 0% of "normal users" want to do. Throw in the change in software, ending up with at least some proportion of worse software, and the desire to change is 0. [1] where "you" applies to a rounding error away from 100%
  - borissk 3y ago
    A lot of people are locked-in Windows, but as Microsoft more and more ruins the OS by pushing advertisement, telemetry, slow cloud services, new versions of apps optimized for those who don't know how to use a computer, rather than experts - there will be plenty of users switching to Linux.
    - bruce511 3y ago
      Most users are not even aware of telemetry. Those who find the cloud services slow can just stop using them. The advertising seems to be local to the US because I've never seen it, but I expect users will ignore it just like they ignore it on TV, Google, Facebook, Twitter, on every roadside, at every mall and do on. Frankly advertising is everywhere, avoiding it doesn't seem to be a priority. I think you summed it up. Computer Experts may want to switch to Linux, and likely already have. My mom, who is 40 years a novice, cares less about any of what you listed. Her skill set is small, and her interest in changing is miles below 0. And there are 97% of the world like her and, 3% like you ;)
kragen 3y ago
seems like a misleading clickbait headline
daniel-cussen 3y ago
Wow.
jacknews 3y ago
The problem is the desktop situation is such a mess. Do you go with a gtk or qt desktop and which one? And then X11 which is ancient and creaky, or wayland which is fatally nerfed in design (if not it's entire development philosophy) even when it does do what you need which is far from always? OTOH windows is becoming adware/spyware and macos is becoming big brother lockdown-wear, so maybe it is time for linux to shine. Personally windows (actually, almost anything microsoft) enrages me anytime I'm unfortunate enough to have to use it, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed at macos limitations and won't be buying apple again, so my next machine will run linux.
- ChatGTP 3y ago
  Been using for 15 years, I've never sat there and worried about gtk or qt, Maybe wayland or X11, but I've just naturally moved to wayland? Just install something like Fedora, and you won't worry about it, it will just work. I personally hate Ubuntu btw Canonical is just not for me. I have no idea how it's so popular. Personally Fedora or NixOS are just so superior I don't know why anyone bothers with anything else.
  - harry8 3y ago
    >Personally Fedora or NixOS are just so superior I don't know why anyone bothers with anything else. Could be. I should try NixOS or fedora again but seriously don't overstate it. Cannonical are not my fav company. Installing an LTS ubu works fine, it has annoyances (maybe nixos and fedora are better?) but it's still so incredibly far ahead of windows or macos it's not even close for me. Sure, I'm used to linux on my laptop (thinkpad t480s intel graphics) that anything else will be a massive hassle to maintain, with driver issues, os-level spyware and all that other headache. When I use my kids' macs they always feel janky, windows? Forget it, it's just so unpolished and ew. Pretty different to RH7 in 2002 in quality and polish when I first tried linux.
    - ChatGTP 3y ago
      Sorry I meant any other distro.
notorandit 3y ago
Funny, isn't it? > 3% [of the] desktop market share How do you spell "90%() of the server market share"? And I don't dare talking about mobile and embedded devices () my very own guesstimate
DiabloD3 3y ago
I wonder why they keep making these articles. Linux is on more computers both today and all of the computers ever made put together than any other OS. It is on virtually all servers on the Internet, the majority OS on phones, its in many TVs and STBs and streaming sticks, its one of the few OSes ever in space, its one of the few OSes ever on Mars, and it is also the OS behind ChromeOS (which that article mistakenly breaks out as its own numbers; so by their own admission, its at least 7%). The largest desktop OS on that list? Windows.... made by a company who makes more money off Linux than anything else, is the largest corp contributor to Linux, and has far more Linux machines internally than Windows ones, and hires software developers who do not develop for Windows.
- Fatnino 3y ago
  What os hasnt been to space? The laptops on the ISS run windows and they have ipads up there too.
- borissk 3y ago
  >> is the largest corp contributor to Linux You're mostly right, but this is incorrect. MS was the largest kernel contributor for a few days 10 years ago, but overall companies like Intel, Google, Oracle and IBM contribute a lot more.
  - pabs3 3y ago
    Some stats about that for Linux 6.4: https://lwn.net/Articles/936113/ https://lwn.net/Articles/936113/
- bruce511 3y ago
  And yet not having a presence on the desktop stings a bit doesn't it :). You can conquer the world, dominate every space and yet there's thus little voice inside saying "but you're not good enough. See over there, in that one space, you're a weakling. " Welcome to the human condition.
  - ojbyrne 3y ago
vander_elst 3y ago
Chrome OS is actually also Linux isn't it?
- pjmlp 3y ago
  It uses the Linux kernel with a browser userspace. Some selected models allow to run GNU/Linux, WSL style, in its own sandboxed environment.
  - vkazanov 3y ago
    What a long way to say that "yes, it is linux indeed" :-)
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      Only if one wants to make the point of GNU/Linux being available, which isn't always the case, many only get the Linux kernel.
john61 3y ago
Market share is a quantity ratio. For me it is not important that a lot of people use Linux besides me. But it is very important who uses it. That is because this is not a consumer good with buyers and sellers, and therefore this not a market. Important is that competent people are using Linux, because that guarantees that it gets better every year, which it does since I use it for 30 years. From my personal experience the most competent IT people I met were using Linux.
sersi 3y ago
Seems that this website blocks any access from HK completely through cloudflare... Cloudflare making it easy to block entire countries, allow people to be lazy in protecting their websites and goes completely against the open web. Of course I could use a vpn but it's getting tiring that I have to do so more and more often.
- shmde 3y ago
  Blocked from India too. After reading your comment I thought Asia was blocked. But I could read after changing location to Japan with a VPN. Cloudflare straight up blocking countries instead of putting up a captcha.
- yellow_lead 3y ago
  Taiwan too
- ycommentator 3y ago
  And (temporarily in) Cambodia.
  - weddpros 3y ago
    same, in Siem Reap
- branko_d 3y ago
  Blocked from Kazakhstan too.
- mmgutz 3y ago
  Philippines too
- leshenka 3y ago
  I'm used to government blocking websites and I see this kind of blocking as pure evil. VPN almost never turns off on my phone and my computer. That is, until I moved to a different country What I can't understand is why people are willing to shut their websites from like half of the world. Especially Linux bloggers. Open source, "free as in freedom", right? These people should fight practices like that, not follow them. Amazingly, the country I'm in right now is blacklisted on this website.
shmde 3y ago
> Sorry, you have been blocked. You are unable to access linuxiac.com Why tho ? > Email the site owner with the cloudflare ray id. Okay, where do I get the email id ? Love the false positives. Keep em coming.
- leonidasv 3y ago
  Got the same error here.
- linuxandrew 3y ago
  I'm not blocked so here you go - info@linuxiac.com
  - shmde 3y ago
    Thanks. Dropped them an email regarding the block.
ctenb 3y ago
Only the "Unknown" category has decreased in market share, which leads me to believe that the linux market share has not increased at all. Just that the data is more complete.
notorandit 3y ago
I think that is an important milestone. An OS whose hardware support is largely closed source on one side and painfully reverse-engineered on the other. Thisnk about the graphics hardware. For years, during the desktop boom in the 2000s, most of the support for networking hardware, wired and wireless, was based on binary blobs coming from Windows OSs and "imported" into a Linux system. How could you dare to use Linux as a desktop? As of today still most of the PC hardware comes with Windows preinstalled. It would be like offering people pink cars which they can paint in a different color, more or less. Nope. I think 3% is a lot if you take into account the amount of efforts needed for people to contrastate the so-called "market push". Linux world is "fragmented" by definition: each main tool and even desktop environment has a number of variants, developed by smallish (fragmented) teams in the name of freedom and choice. Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. Normal (non-techie) people are scared by Linux. Because they have never tried the blue pill. They have never seen how deep the rabbit hole can be.
- hardware2win 3y ago
  >Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. Consistency, stability?
  - notorandit 3y ago
    Stability and consistency is a Windows illusion. Can you run a Windows PC for months without rebooting (no OS update)? To me it's more market grip on people that prefers chains to freedom, not thinking to thinking.
    - hardware2win 3y ago
      I dont know, Im always turning my computer off when not using.
- DeathArrow 3y ago
  >Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. macOS does it, too. Android does it, too. Basically any os that cares about human interaction.
jzombie 3y ago
That's far better market share per year than my personal projects do.
lemper 3y ago
not sure why but my ip is blocked by cloudflare.
diekhans 3y ago
After years of BSD and Linux on my desktop, I finally figured out that the desktop is about applications. Many of us need to actually accomplish things in addition to develop Open Source software. Had M$ been broken up, maybe it would be different. Until things change, I am happy that at least I can run applications on UNIX based MacOS. 3% is just sarcasm
EGreg 3y ago
Meanwhile Wordpress powers 40% of all websites Basically the difference is that open source needs experts to maintain it, so it works really well for server side stuff and predefined environments. Not as much for desktop.
- MattPalmer1086 3y ago
  I'd argue it is more inertia and lock in, and the fact that the vast majority of desktop PCs come pre-installed with Windows. Honestly, I spend less time maintaining my Linux desktops than I do fixing the Windows boxes in my house. Had to reinstall Windows completely several times to fix issues with updates not applying and other things that just don't work properly. And don't get me started on the endlessly nested configuration UI in Windows, some bits are modern, some bits seem to date back to XP, nothing is in one place.
theptip 3y ago
So what’s the best desktop distribution these days? Sounds like Ubuntu is out of fashion?
- fsflover 3y ago
  Debian or PopOS.
- timbit42 3y ago
  Linux Mint (Cinnamon, XFCE or MATE desktops) or PopOS (Gnome desktop). Of course you can manually install any desktop you want on either.
fulafel 3y ago
As observed by StatCounter, a web analytics company... I guess this is accurate for people who are in the web ads business, but otherwise obviously it's a bad proxy and seems likely it's undercounting a lot since Linux users tend to be savvy enough to block analytics and probably do less web browsing on StatCounter monitored sites. Eg they show Firefox as having too small to see (< 2%) market share here: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share - other data sources show 7-ish %.
- tgv 3y ago
  I can tell you how much it is in 40000 requests from a "national representative sample" in the Netherlands obtained in the last 6 months: 393 user agents specify Linux without Android. That's just under 1%. Firefox is 2395, or 6%.
leonidasv 3y ago
Interesting: looking at Statcounter data, Linux has been gaining traction in India[0] since 2022 and now accounts for almost 14% of desktop operating systems (it's the 2nd most used OS already). [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/india/#monthly-201901-202306 https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/india/#mo...
anovikov 3y ago
Had to use Linux on a desktop for a few days recently. Have to admit: it has become usable. My previous time was about 10 years ago and then it was a pile of unusable, poorly designed UI.
renewiltord 3y ago
At some point of time, I ended up with a Linux desktop that I rebooted to play games, and a MacOS laptop. And if I'm being honest, I switch between these so seamlessly it's barely visible to me. I would never have thought we would have gotten here. But Mozilla blazed the way making standards real and now all apps are Electron and the cross-platform future is here.
gloosx 3y ago
Can we really trust such data? How good is it statistically? I mean by looking at User-Agent string of web page requests you can try to guess what OS made it, but it is just about the web requests and an arbitrary string that the user can change – can you figure the real OS market share just based on that? They even say they cover only 1.5 mil websites but for sure there are magnitudes more hosted.
rounakdatta 3y ago
https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinuxiac.com%2Flinux-hits-3-percent-market-share https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinuxiac.com%2Flinux-...
iso1631 3y ago
That's nice. Currently in my house I have 11 machines with a linux kernel, including 3 running a desktop gui (xfce), 1 android tablet, 1 chromebook, couple of pis, and the rest being routers and APs. I've also got a windows 10 enterprise laptop I use for testing things at work, a macbook (same purpose). That's ignoring the "iot" vlan with god knows what on (printer, plugs, speakers, even a bulb), but most of that's linux. I wish more devices ran "not-linux" really. For most people, a desktop OS is just a platform to run a web browser on. Chrome's dominant state in that area concerns me more than the dominance of linux in computing.
cfn 3y ago
I am part of the 3% having moved my main driver a few months ago. This is not the first time I move from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu). The last time I moved back to Windows was because Unity was dropped in favor of Gnome and I decided I didn't want a non mainstream DE. Things were already bad as they were. I am happy with it but yesterday morning the computer wouldn't boot so I had to do some hand waving to fix the problem. No idea what caused it.
- timbit42 3y ago
  A number of people are moving away from the *ubuntus due to the Snap packages and many are moving to Linux Mint (Cinnamon, XFCE, MATE) or PopOS (Gnome). When Canonical moved away from Unity was the point where they abandoned the desktop. Mint and PopOS are better desktops in my opinion.
bouncycastle 3y ago
Probably 100% if you count by household, as chances are that even your digital toothbrush runs the Linux kernel.
trabant00 3y ago
For over 20 years Linux has been my main desktop OS and also my profession. And I hope the year of the Linux desktop never comes. Why? Because I've seen what happened with other niche hobbies of mine that went mainstream. Once the money started pouring in and the race for market share took over the priorities changed drastically from enthusiast hobby to whatever brought one more ounce of commercial success. This already happened to the server side of Linux which has become a pile of over-complicated unstable undocumented mess. Desktop Linux has reached perfection IMHO. People complain about too many distros, package formats, desktop environments, init managers, audio servers and so on. I just love it, I pick and choose whatever I like and I like pretty weird things. I have excellent support and QA from community disto packaging - my Arch install is over 10 years old and I never had to do anything to it besides tinkering for fun. My Debian private server requires 30 minutes every 2 years to switch to the new release. The documentation is heavenly. The commercial offerings (that run on Linux) that pay my bills aren't even in the same league. Neither is Windows or Mac. I want Linux to remain an enthusiast OS. It's not good for my parents, my non-tech friends, and maybe it's not good for you either. That's not a bad thing and I do not want it to change.
lostmsu 3y ago
Is there yet a distribution that has an enable-and-forget full disk encryption with auto unlock on secure boot via TPM or something similar?
p0w3n3d 3y ago
I would say that Linux is the second desktop for development (behind MacOS, in front of Windows), however... I wonder if any of you tried to develop C/C++ on MacOS. It seems that it's impossible to find leaks and misbehavior, while on Linux there is this valgrind that does everything for you. MacOS have some `leaks` tool but it does not really do half of the things valgrind does. So probably I would say "Linux is in the first place". /Writing this on my company's mac/
- grive 3y ago
  I mean yes that's a weird take, why would MacOS be considered first? I have a Mac provided by my company. None of my development tools are available there, profiling, debugging is a hassle. The only way I can work on it is by booting up linux VM, or connecting to my servers to compile there. Mac is just terrible for development. It's barely better than Windows.
  - robbyking 3y ago
    What is your primary language? I’ve worked at some pretty well known tech companies over the last couple of decades, and it’s been nothing but Macs for at least the last 15 or so years.
DeathArrow 3y ago
Funny thing is, even if at my present an last three workplaces we developed software that runs on Linux, our development laptops still used Windows.
DeathArrow 3y ago
I am happy to run Linux on servers and Windows on the desktop, for me that means the right tool for the right job. If other people like to run Linux on the desktop or Windows on the servers, I don't have anything against it. Everyone should run what it suits him best.
DeathArrow 3y ago
I run Linux every day on my desktop, in WSL2. I am not sure what distro it is, I wasn't curious about it, but I presume it's Ubuntu.
dartvox 3y ago
[dead]
DeathArrow 3y ago
I'd venture to say 99% of people don't give a damn on what their os is. All they care is to run their apps without the os getting in their way or breaking. They don't feel the need to and don't want to be forced to tweak, customize, fine tune and manage that os a lot.
- oldandboring 3y ago
  I'll go even further and say that most people, even younger people, still think in terms of "computer" and not OS, like it's an appliance. It's about as sophisticated an understanding out there as it was in the 90s. When I'm asked for computer buying advice, they ask me "Mac or PC?" or maybe "Mac or Dell?" For phones it's, "iPhone or Samsung"? Eyes would glaze over if I tried explaining that Dell, Lenovo, HP machines etc all run Windows, except the ones that are Chromebooks... and I would never EVER recommend Linux to a normie unless I wanted to forever be their tech support.
elektrontamer 3y ago
I once installed an Ubuntu 17 on an old desktop and my mother used it just fine. Most people don't need Windows. It's just that it comes with anything you buy and most people won't learn something new unless forced to. And to be fair why should they? They don't mind the extra cost and couldn't care less about our oss. We need to get them when they're young and impressionable and turn them into little linux evangelists.
- cassepipe 3y ago
  I have met a lot of idealist linux evangelist but I was yet to meet the Machiavellian linux evangelist. I am glad to meet you and support your quest for world desktop domination.
- DeathArrow 3y ago
  Take a page from other minorities/activists work and push for affirmative action for Linux in schools, universities and workplaces. If a place uses another OS, that means Linux users are being discriminated against.
  - forinti 3y ago
    My firm was hacked, but only the Windows machines suffered. So there's the value of diversity for you. I'm pushing for some FreeBSD now.
- forinti 3y ago
  I did the same thing for my mother in law, because other family members kept installing trash on her PC. Such was the success, that my sister in law started using LibreOffice and quite likes it.
lwhi 3y ago
I suppose 2024 will be the year of the Linux desktop ...
lsofzz 3y ago
> Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share (linuxiac.com) And the desktop market amongst servers, cell phone, consumer electronics is? Linux doesn't need to play this game because it has already won it - a long time ago.
tap-snap-or-nap 3y ago
Running Linux on Mac solves most of my issues.
vidyesh 3y ago
Alt link for everyone blocked by Cloudflare https://archive.is/uaICX https://archive.is/uaICX
sidcool 3y ago
Somehow I am being blocked by Cloudflare from accessing the website. I am not on VPN or something.
snvzz 3y ago
Linux desktop adoption being bad might be a good thing. UNIX-like systems are very obsolete and something to move away from. I'd rather it be the next system that takes off. Hopefully a properly engineered system based on a microkernel (such as seL4) multiserver architecture, preferably with capabilities. I do of course use Linux, as a stopgap until such a thing is here.
deleted 3y ago
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WesolyKubeczek 3y ago
On one hand, yay, on the other: * The share of desktops themselves is shrinking towards mobile * The other desktop OSes are steadily turning into shite, so there are fewer compelling reasons to stay on them * Everything is in the browser anyway, so as long at it can run Chrome, no one bats an eyelash
jerrygenser 3y ago
Does anyone have a recommended security checklist or config guides for secure Linux on desktop? Despite my previous assumptions I've read some recent indications that it's not as secure as windows and macos.
jononomo 3y ago
I don't understand why someone would want to run Linux on a desktop.
- timbit42 3y ago
  Not everyone is like you or has the same needs as you.
treffer 3y ago
The big question is IMHO why. Are people fleeing the Windows as Ad Space direction? Are they fed up with Mac OS oddities? Do they use their Steam deck more? Or are they just enjoying the Linux experience.... I know that after years of Linux usage I can't stand Windows in-your-face Ads and "use our accounts". And I can't stand the locked down Apple ecosystem either. But what drives others? Are there any good sources on that question?
- haolez 3y ago
  I'm not your average user (as most in this forum), but I've recently migrated to Linux as my daily driver because of Windows as Ad Space :)
- fendy3002 3y ago
  For general population, I guess it's steam deck. For programmer / power user, I guess linux desktop is now in good state, for programming I find very minimum difficulty on using Ubuntu. It is now a viable choice beside mac and windows. Furthermore with steam proton and lutris we can play many games with linux which was impossible. The programming device and gaming device now can use single Linux os
jongjong 3y ago
Linux (especially Ubuntu and Kubuntu) nowadays is so much more user friendly than it was 5 years ago. Before, you couldn't do anything without bringing up the terminal. As a developer, I'm a big fan of Kubuntu. I use an Apple laptop during my day job and my productivity is way lower on MacOS. I need Kubuntu's workspaces feature to quickly switch between console, browser and IDE - With MacOS workspaces, I need to keep tapping on the arrow key until I see the window I want and then I need to release the keys; by that time, I've already lost my train of thought. I need workspace switching to rely on my muscle memory to switch to any workspace with a single set of hotkeys. MacOS has so many annoying things which drive me nuts; like it doesn't show the full path in finder (and can't easily manipulate it), deleting files feels like a hassle. I hate that screenshots go to my Desktop and I can't quickly tell it where to go. The experience overall feels restrictive, obscures what's really going on and prioritizes the wrong things. I already tweaked my settings to fix some of these things but it's still not as good as Kubuntu... The main positive thing I have to say about MacOS is it's better than Windows.
patrulek 3y ago
Linux is fine for tech people, but it is far behind on list for non-tech people. It is (was? im not into Linux) just less friendly and usable. I would guess that most of the people are not that much tech-familiar.
- fsflover 3y ago
  My non-tech relatives are using Linux just fine (I installed it for them).
forrestthewoods 3y ago
As a game dev who uses Windows threads like this are super interesting. I’m still moderately convinced that Linux users are suffering Stockholm Syndrome. Linux devs still don’t have a debugger as good as Visual Studio and insist that printf is good enough. Y’all are crazy and don’t realize how horrible your workflows are. IMHO. Of course it could be me that has Stockholm Syndrome!
- metaltyphoon 3y ago
  I use all 3 OSes everyday. Work on Windows / WSL (Ubuntu) and macOS for personal. Gdb is great but nothing can touch VS debugger. printf only is insanity.
lproven 3y ago
TFA gets its own figures wrong. ChromeOS is a Linux. Therefore its numbers should be included. 3.08 + 4.15 = 7.23% Still not all that impressive, but better than twice as good as claimed, a solid 3rd place after macOS, and still climbing.
- danpalmer 3y ago
  Technically, but not usefully. It depends what you're trying to communicate. ChromeOS is based on Linux but most Linux enthusiasts aren't going to consider it Desktop Linux. The website is clearly catering to a Linux enthusiast market so the numbers communicate the right thing for its readers.
  - lproven 3y ago
    This just quickly descends into a "no true Scotsman" argument. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman It's a Linux kernel and a Linux userland on top of `glibc`. It's not a weird libc, like Bionic in Android. You can run a Debian container and Debian apps; my own ChromeOS Flex machine runs Firefox and DOSemu. It's a Linux. It's the most successful desktop Linux there is, and so of course all the advocates decry it as not being a True Linux, but then again the Fedora lot think Ubuntu is junk, and the Debian lot think everything is junk, and the Arch folk think they're more cutting-edge, and the NixOS folk think all the rest are still in the stone age somewhere...
    - danpalmer 3y ago
      Honestly I don't think this is playing silly games with words, I think it's just a website knowing their readership. Linux is two things: a kernel and an ecosystem of distributions. This website is clearly targeting users of distributions that brand themselves as "Linux distributions". In that way, ChromeOS is obviously not a Linux distribution to anyone that cares about Linux distributions.
      - lproven 3y ago
sylware 3y ago
Android/linux did confirm the following: until it does a not too shabby job at being an operating system, the only thing that matters: mass default installation on devices. How to do it when the devices are already locked-in by a monopoly? That would be ultra hardcore regulation (USA grade) with alternatives which would have to be financially backed by some means to keep those alternatives "out-of-the-economy", until it reaches economic equilibrium (if ever... since big tech has infinite money...). That said, current elf/linux distros have a lot of nasty too (planned obsolescence is very strong).
nologic01 3y ago
I am fairly confident that the best days of the linux desktop are ahead of us. 3% might become 30% in a few years. Technology adoption takes strange paths but the history of linux is one of remarkable resilience and capability which augurs well for the future. My guess is that a key driver of growth will come from power users that will make best use of local AI and data science tools, preserving privacy and commercial secrecy. While many many casual users will continue using thin clients, effectively outsourcing their digital lives to the "cloud", this is unlikely to continue being the 97%. The opportunity is, e.g., for all the apps of the linux desktop to start making use of the python ML tools to empower users with unprecedented functionality. There is no reason that all of that new universe must be ceded to a small number of actors. This opportunity was there for a long time now, ML is not new, but the broader FOSS community is quite reactive. Emulating proprietary / closed tools to a fault (eg the libreoffice suite) rather than exploring the unique opportunities of alternative paths has been the norm. Luckily the AI hype will work as a kick in the butt. The future is for linux to lose.
zombieprocess 3y ago
Any recommendations for Linux based laptops for software development that is < $1000?
- jerrygenser 3y ago
  Get an older Dell XPS 15. Newer gen are above this price point but 2-3 gen back will be very nice. Battery, WiFi chip, memory, and storage are all upgradeable; you'll just be signing up for a given chip generation. L
- oldandboring 3y ago
  A Framework laptop starts at about $1050. Mine is truly the best Linux laptop I've ever owned.
rmrf100 3y ago
Good to know, Linux desktop is suitable for most cases.
funemployed 3y ago
You know how I know that the desktop market is no longer the primary consumer market? Because Linux has a 3% market share.
ZunarJ5 3y ago
Ten years ago I started on Linux because my ADHD ass needed pcs last minute at college and the Ubuntu machines were always the ones open whereas the Windows and Mac ones had lines out the door. Though my main pc runs Windows now, I don't think my next one will. I'm continually getting let down with the inflexibility and bloat on these systems, which probably parallels an increase of knowledge and skills. As for Mac, I tried to set up an old iPad last night and nearly put it in the garbage due to the silly restrictions set by the OS. I'm a researcher and keep hearing colleagues complaining about declining computer skills and after trying to use that iPad I understand why. I hope Linux becomes more mainstream in the future. I think it would be a collective net gain.
RexFactorem 3y ago
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inparen 3y ago
Me and along with people who do not work on DotNet or iOS app development, that includes Java, PHP, BI, Salesforce and even Sales and Marketing guys use Ubuntu for last 15 years (50 - 70 people). We do normal dev stuff like program & emails & meetings & docker and etc. When I installed Ubuntu on HP Pavillion dv4 laptop for one of the friend, who was casual user, said - what kind of OS is this, which is still working after 6 years. :) Happy to contribute to that 3%.
_8j50 3y ago
I am not sure I want Linux to be super popular on the desktop, just usable enough for anyone who wants an alternative desktop OS to use. It's thanks to redhat and corporate types using it so much that all sorts of controversial and divisive changes were introduced. The monetization aspect is also hard to resist when 100M+ people use your OS, takes a lot of character to resist becoming a billionaire by selling out your original users who heleped you succeed.
ntfAX 3y ago
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nathants 3y ago
as long a desktop linux isn’t made illegal, this is fine. not that many people have a ps5 devkit either, it doesn’t make them less important.
mariuz 3y ago
I will quote Linus :" So I think that in order to make it in a consumer market, you really do need to be pre-installed. And as Android has shown, Linux really can be very much a consumer product. So it's not that the consumer market itself would necessarily be a fundamentally hard nut to crack, but the "you need to come preinstalled" thing is a big thing. And on the laptop and desktop market, we just haven't ever had any company making that kind of play. And don't get me wrong - it's not an easy play to make. That said, I wouldn't dismiss it either. The whole "ubiquitous web browser" thing has made that kind of consumer play be more realistic, and I think that Google's Chrome push (Chromebox and Chromebooks) is clearly aiming towards that. So I'm still hopeful. For me, Linux on the desktop is where I started, and Linux on the desktop is literally what I still use today primarily - although I obviously do have other Linux devices, including an Android phone - so I'd personally really love for it to take over in that market too. " https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419231 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419231
ultranano1 3y ago
Coming from someone that uses Linux all the time at work and for personal projects. It's amazing, but the main user experience isn't there yet. For example I tried Ubuntu Unity on a fresh install for a week or so recently and it was popping up with unknown errors randomly. It also lacks any hotkeys. Software centre seems to have improved but is still buggy. Also there are still occasional issues which make the machine not bootable and hard to sort without stack overflow and some reasonable Linux knowledge. Ended up swapping back to i3 and just using my old confs. Which I think is the main issue. There isn't really a good, reliable, simple, predictable desktop experience yet like you get on Windows or MacOS.
brachika 3y ago
I always get surprised when I read OS share information. Could swear more than 3% of (personal) computers in the world run Linux.

630 points by cglong 3y ago

Probably 70 or 80% of cloud workloads are Linux, and like 60% of embedded devices, of which there are billions. And of those embedded/mobile devices, the rest will either be running iOS, vxworks, freertos or zephyr. I think the joke has always been "this is the year of Linux", but in all honesty... it's the decade of Linux. It's probably one of the few areas where there is growth in computing capacity and by far most of the net new is running Linux.

andsoitis 3y ago
Consumers don't know any of that. The article is about desktop penetration. There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. Still, congratulations on hitting 3% desktop share.
- ixaxaar 3y ago
  > There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. What do you mean? Android is Linux!
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Android uses the Linux kernel, with a Java/Kotlin userspace.
    - bruce511 3y ago
      As RMS is quick to point out "linux" is only -ever- the kernel. So yes, android is 100% Linux. It is not Gnu/Linux though. Which is what the desktop folk are celebrating. This is one case where the distinction actually is important.
      - pjmlp 3y ago
        A very important distinction indeed, as the Termux folks keep hitting walls in their thought process that Android/Linux is GNU/Linux. Or how despite having an endless choice of games, and applications, almost none of them are available in GNU/Linux.
  - andsoitis 3y ago
    > What do you mean? Android is Linux! Yes, which is why I said “and signal”, which is to say it isn’t marketed as such and so consumers don’t know that. To them, they’re running Android OS, for better or worse.
- fsflover 3y ago
  > There was a chance with mobile phones to use and signal Linux, but that didn't happen either. This is plain wrong. Sent from my GNU/Linux smartphone Librem 5.
photonbeam 3y ago
Are there really 20-30% of cloud workloads not on Linux? What do they do? Who uses them?
- COGlory 3y ago
  I assume Microsoft SQL?
  - mcny 3y ago
    > I assume Microsoft SQL? Yes! Especially if your application is legacy/old and requires Windows anyway. I used to think why people would do that when you can dockerize SQL Server and just use Debian or Fedora or whatever but I once tried that on a legacy application and things... were not quite right. It was easier to install on Windows than to debug the issue so I just let it go. I think things would be different if the code was new or I was familiar with it enough to anticipate how it could break in different ways. If the code/framework is new enough, it might be worthwhile diving into that rabbithole.
  - borissk 3y ago
    Microsoft SQL Server runs on Linux and Windows.
    - trimethylpurine 3y ago
      But you need SSMS on a Windows client to manage it effectively. Unless you are doing everything cli, which is just not practical in the enterprise. Anyway, running it in Linux is pretty niche. Cool for show and tell, but you need balls of steel if you're going to try running even a small $100 million dollar business on it.
      - borissk 3y ago
        https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/download-azure-data-studio?view=sql-server-ver16&tabs=redhat-install%2Credhat-uninstall https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/down... It's fully supported by Microsoft on Linux, so if you run into technical problems you have a support line to call.
rvz 3y ago
The article is specifically about ‘desktop’ market share and not the other markets where Linux is used, which is irrelevant.
- coding123 3y ago
  Linux is irrelevant in other markets?
  - throwaway2990 3y ago
    It is when you’re talking specifically about desktop usage.
    - rvz 3y ago
      Precisely. Quite hilarious to see some HNers who cannot even read the title of the article and are compelled or have the urge to bring up other irrelevant statistics to hide the little to no desktop usage when compared to other desktop operating systems.
      - Joker_vD 3y ago
        The more things change... I've seen mostly identical (in spirit, not in technical details) discussions about the "Year of Linux on Desktop" in 2013, which was 10 years ago. I am quite sure I can safely bet the discussions 20 years ago, in 2003, were also pretty much the same.
        hollerith 3y ago
        1999 was the first year of Linux on the desktop if I remember correctly.
- genmud 3y ago
  Agreed, the article is irrelevant because it talks about desktop Linux market share.
pjmlp 3y ago
Good luck trying to run a proper GNU/Linux on those Android devices. Actually tbere are plenty of other options for embedded. As for the server room, UNIX was already the winner there anyway, since the 1990's.
- genmud 3y ago
  AOSP with the more modern kernels and less vendor garbage in giant forks will help with that. Unix was king in the 80s, maybe early 90s for anyone doing terminals, banks, government and universities were all ok the big iron train. But when nt3.1 and 3.5 came out, if you were a business not looking into it, you felt like you were behind the times. We had DEC and iris at our house, so weren't in a good position to switch, but it wasn't long before the change happened.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    I might be a NT fan, yet I am the first to acknowledge NT never had a big market share on the server room. The only places where NT managed to succeed on server room have been Microsoft shops, or places where .NET was adopted as the main development stack. Workstations is another matter. In the 80's many banks were either on mainframes/micros, or using stuff like Novel Netware.
    - iso1631 3y ago
      > The only places where NT managed to succeed on server room have been Microsoft shops, or places where .NET was adopted as the main development stack. .NET came out well after NT was replaced with windows 2000 (unless you claim that 2000, and thus XP and later windows OSes were also NT) > In the 80's many banks were either on mainframes/micros, or using stuff like Novel Netware. In my experience in the late 90s NT crushed Netware. It rode the wave of computerisation of SMEs and gained massive amounts of users (with desktop often being 3.11 onwards rather than NT).
      - pjmlp 3y ago
        .NET came in 2001, to be more precisely yes. Until then it was all about ASP, Outlook, and SMB shares, nothing else. All big stuff was on UNIX. Again, when talking about the server room. From 1999 to 2003, I was doing project delivery across Aix, Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT/2000, so I might have an idea of how our customer based actually had their server rooms configured. Likewise the university campus was wired to DG/UX, Solaris, eventually Red-Hat came into the picture as DG/UX server died. Computer labs desktops were a mixture Windows 9X, NT, Mac and some lucky professors had a couple of NeXT Cubes, which they eventually replaced by Red-Hat (before Apple's aquisition). So to each their own 1990's anecdote.
Agentlien 3y ago
I find it fascinating how ubiquitous Linux is. I'm my family we have two desktop computers and a laptop. One desktop is running Linux, the other and the laptop are windows. But we're also running Linux on all our phones, two tablets, two TVs, the vacuum cleaner, our router, and probably more devices I'm forgetting or not aware of.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  The Linux kernel, yes.
constantcrying 3y ago
>and like 60% of embedded devices Maybe 60% of embedded devices with an OS. But yes, Linux (and BSD) are quite dominant outside of the desktop market segment.

MBCook 3y ago

> While someone may seem the figure modest, it signifies a growing acceptance and recognition of the power and versatility of Linux. Does it? It’s 3%. If it was 15% or 20% maybe you could say that. It’s less than “unknown” and less than ChromeOS which is just over 4%. If it wasn’t a round number, I don’t think anyone would ever write this article because the number is just too small. It’s nice that it seems to be growing. I just don’t think this is a big achievement.

hulitu 3y ago
Who uses ChromeOS ? Here in EU I haven't seen or heard anyone using this.
- raverbashing 3y ago
  From a quick search on online stores, it seems Chromebooks are not that rare, there's your answer pretty much
- hysan 3y ago
  A lot of schools do.
- mattnewton 3y ago
  Very common in schools in the US, because they are very cheap and easy to manage.
- Retric 3y ago
  Everyone using Chromebooks? It’s popular with schools etc.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- dev_tty01 3y ago
  That’s the point. Hardly anyone uses Chrome OS, but it is still more than Linux.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Panino 3y ago

Somewhat recently, OpenBSD binaries for Chromium and Iridium were changed to identify as Linux instead of OpenBSD in the useragent, I think to pass dumb "security" webapps that refuse to talk to unknown clients. Firefox still identifies as OpenBSD.

robbyking 3y ago

It’s the year of the Linux desktop!

resolutebat 3y ago
Linux is the desktop OS of the future, and always will be.
- DANmode 3y ago
  Heh. Funnier than most versions of this joke! But also: 3%!!
- Georgelemental 3y ago
  Like the old saw about Brazil…
- Animats 3y ago
  Windows may be the desktop OS of the past. If we still had Windows 7, with no ads, no recurring charges, and no built-in cloud services, I'd still be using it.
andrewf 3y ago
I, for one, welcome our new desktop overlords.
MichaelMoser123 3y ago
if they really start to shove ads in the start menu of windows 11 then Linux will have a real chance on the desktop. Also you don't need windows for office - you can have it in the browser, and google docs is enough for most users.

resolutebat 3y ago

Desktop market share.

electricduck 3y ago

I'm kinda surprised this entirely forgot to mention the SteamDeck. I'd love to know how much of an impact that had, considering apparently 3 million units have been sold (according to Valve). Alas, how many of those users know they are running Linux is another question.

trustingtrust 3y ago
>Alas, how many of those users know they are running Linux is another question. That's the whole point. Probably 99% of computer (anything that uses a processor I guess qualifies a computer these days) users in this world don't really care what's running underneath as long it gets the job done. If something can run linux underneath and can still pass as acceptable that's a huge win I think.
AmericanChopper 3y ago
SteamDecks aren’t desktop PCs. If you were including gaming consoles/handhelds, then BSD would be way ahead of Linux with all the PlayStations that have been sold (and maybe with Nintendo switches too, depending on how you chose to count those).
- qwytw 3y ago
  There is more to an 'OS' than the kernel. SteamDecks are indistinguishable from PCs, since they run more or less exactly the same software as a Linux desktop/laptop would.
  - AmericanChopper 3y ago
    It’s still not a desktop PC. You’ll notice that iOS, Android and iPadOS aren’t included in the list either, even though the devices that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience (and much more comprehensively than the steam deck can). At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? I would guess something very close to 0.

shmerl 3y ago

Good progress of Linux gaming probably contributed to this.

gregman1 3y ago
The decision of Microsoft to withdraw from Russia has had a significant impact as well, particularly due to the emergence of government-supported Linux distributions that are gaining popularity among various organizations and companies in the former USSR and BRICS nations.
- shmerl 3y ago
  That never stopped pirates there so I doubt it's much of an incentive. The biggest driver of adoption is simply more computers sold with Linux pre-installed. Very small fraction of users ever installs an OS.
  - vkazanov 3y ago
    I've been buying machines with Linux preinstalled for 7-8 years now, both for myself, my wife and my kid. It is possible, and that's great, but boy Dell et al do obfuscate the choice on their sites. You have to know the machine exists, need to know the generation, the year, etc. It's almost as if they don't want people to buy these machines.
    - CatWChainsaw 3y ago
      I'm interested in this and other than System76 and the scant Dell options I'd be hard pressed to name more options. What do you know of?

hulitu 3y ago

They forgot to show windows version.

timbit42 3y ago
Click the link to the StatCounter website and then click the button for Windows versions.

incompatible 3y ago

Apparently at the expense of "unknown".

lelanthran 3y ago
> Apparently at the expense of "unknown". I'm pretty certain that the 'unknown' is almost all Linux or *BSD users. From the source of the data itself (https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology) > In other words we calculate our Global Stats on the basis of more than 5 billion page views per month, by people from all over the world onto our 1.5 million+ member sites. The majority of Linux desktop users that I know off are especially privacy focused and potentially blocking attempts at fingerprinting.
- incompatible 3y ago
  Sure, and this may include setting their browser ID to make it look like they are on Windows.
- leonidasv 3y ago
  More likely to be bots/crawlers.

hparadiz 3y ago

I've been daily driving Linux since March 2020. The only thing I miss is Adobe products. Most games work. VR is still a bit janky. I run Gentoo so I have typical bleeding edge upgrade problems but otherwise it's relatively stable.

Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago

Don't know, it used to be 100% in my company in 2007 and now it is like 80% because there are some iOS developers who need macOS and designers who use Sketch, which is insanely great and which alone is worth buying an alApple computer and suffering macOS to run it.

matdehaast 3y ago
Have you used Figma? Feels like sketch got stuck in the Stone Age quickly once Figma made a performant browser based design tool
- Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
  Yes, I have, and Sketch is far superior for me. So much that I would rather buy mac and Sketch than use Figma completely for free.

jeffchien 3y ago

It's curious that there seemed to be a 6% classification shift between Windows and Unknown in April, and that was reverted for the June data. I wonder what UA string caused that, and it honestly doesn't inspire confidence in their methodology if they don't double check a 6% shift.

laserbeam 3y ago

Every once in a while I'm tempted to switch back to Linux (I used to have that as my desktop between 10 and 15 years ago), but then I remember: - My DJ software (which I pay for) is not supported at all on Linux (likewise true for most common music production software). - The Affinity suite (which I paid for) is not supported on Linux. - The best debugger I can find (remedybg, which I paid for) doesn't work there. - and there are a few more niche ones. I just can't give up on half of my productive tools and trade them off for much jankier alternatives. I sadly cannot contribute to get to 4%.

bruce511 3y ago
Operating systems have a really high degree of lock-in. Such that while you -can- change OS, there's simply no incentive to do so. That's why you're still running the same OS you always have. [1] You accumulate software yes, but you also accumulate habits and knowledge. Changing OS means discarding all the accumulated knowledge, which 0% of "normal users" want to do. Throw in the change in software, ending up with at least some proportion of worse software, and the desire to change is 0. [1] where "you" applies to a rounding error away from 100%
- borissk 3y ago
  A lot of people are locked-in Windows, but as Microsoft more and more ruins the OS by pushing advertisement, telemetry, slow cloud services, new versions of apps optimized for those who don't know how to use a computer, rather than experts - there will be plenty of users switching to Linux.
  - bruce511 3y ago
    Most users are not even aware of telemetry. Those who find the cloud services slow can just stop using them. The advertising seems to be local to the US because I've never seen it, but I expect users will ignore it just like they ignore it on TV, Google, Facebook, Twitter, on every roadside, at every mall and do on. Frankly advertising is everywhere, avoiding it doesn't seem to be a priority. I think you summed it up. Computer Experts may want to switch to Linux, and likely already have. My mom, who is 40 years a novice, cares less about any of what you listed. Her skill set is small, and her interest in changing is miles below 0. And there are 97% of the world like her and, 3% like you ;)

kragen 3y ago

seems like a misleading clickbait headline

daniel-cussen 3y ago

Wow.

jacknews 3y ago

The problem is the desktop situation is such a mess. Do you go with a gtk or qt desktop and which one? And then X11 which is ancient and creaky, or wayland which is fatally nerfed in design (if not it's entire development philosophy) even when it does do what you need which is far from always? OTOH windows is becoming adware/spyware and macos is becoming big brother lockdown-wear, so maybe it is time for linux to shine. Personally windows (actually, almost anything microsoft) enrages me anytime I'm unfortunate enough to have to use it, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed at macos limitations and won't be buying apple again, so my next machine will run linux.

ChatGTP 3y ago
Been using for 15 years, I've never sat there and worried about gtk or qt, Maybe wayland or X11, but I've just naturally moved to wayland? Just install something like Fedora, and you won't worry about it, it will just work. I personally hate Ubuntu btw Canonical is just not for me. I have no idea how it's so popular. Personally Fedora or NixOS are just so superior I don't know why anyone bothers with anything else.
- harry8 3y ago
  >Personally Fedora or NixOS are just so superior I don't know why anyone bothers with anything else. Could be. I should try NixOS or fedora again but seriously don't overstate it. Cannonical are not my fav company. Installing an LTS ubu works fine, it has annoyances (maybe nixos and fedora are better?) but it's still so incredibly far ahead of windows or macos it's not even close for me. Sure, I'm used to linux on my laptop (thinkpad t480s intel graphics) that anything else will be a massive hassle to maintain, with driver issues, os-level spyware and all that other headache. When I use my kids' macs they always feel janky, windows? Forget it, it's just so unpolished and ew. Pretty different to RH7 in 2002 in quality and polish when I first tried linux.
  - ChatGTP 3y ago
    Sorry I meant any other distro.

notorandit 3y ago

Funny, isn't it? > 3% [of the] desktop market share How do you spell "90%() of the server market share"? And I don't dare talking about mobile and embedded devices () my very own guesstimate

DiabloD3 3y ago

I wonder why they keep making these articles. Linux is on more computers both today and all of the computers ever made put together than any other OS. It is on virtually all servers on the Internet, the majority OS on phones, its in many TVs and STBs and streaming sticks, its one of the few OSes ever in space, its one of the few OSes ever on Mars, and it is also the OS behind ChromeOS (which that article mistakenly breaks out as its own numbers; so by their own admission, its at least 7%). The largest desktop OS on that list? Windows.... made by a company who makes more money off Linux than anything else, is the largest corp contributor to Linux, and has far more Linux machines internally than Windows ones, and hires software developers who do not develop for Windows.

Fatnino 3y ago
What os hasnt been to space? The laptops on the ISS run windows and they have ipads up there too.
borissk 3y ago
>> is the largest corp contributor to Linux You're mostly right, but this is incorrect. MS was the largest kernel contributor for a few days 10 years ago, but overall companies like Intel, Google, Oracle and IBM contribute a lot more.
- pabs3 3y ago
  Some stats about that for Linux 6.4: https://lwn.net/Articles/936113/ https://lwn.net/Articles/936113/
bruce511 3y ago
And yet not having a presence on the desktop stings a bit doesn't it :). You can conquer the world, dominate every space and yet there's thus little voice inside saying "but you're not good enough. See over there, in that one space, you're a weakling. " Welcome to the human condition.
- ojbyrne 3y ago

vander_elst 3y ago

Chrome OS is actually also Linux isn't it?

pjmlp 3y ago
It uses the Linux kernel with a browser userspace. Some selected models allow to run GNU/Linux, WSL style, in its own sandboxed environment.
- vkazanov 3y ago
  What a long way to say that "yes, it is linux indeed" :-)
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Only if one wants to make the point of GNU/Linux being available, which isn't always the case, many only get the Linux kernel.

john61 3y ago

Market share is a quantity ratio. For me it is not important that a lot of people use Linux besides me. But it is very important who uses it. That is because this is not a consumer good with buyers and sellers, and therefore this not a market. Important is that competent people are using Linux, because that guarantees that it gets better every year, which it does since I use it for 30 years. From my personal experience the most competent IT people I met were using Linux.

sersi 3y ago

Seems that this website blocks any access from HK completely through cloudflare... Cloudflare making it easy to block entire countries, allow people to be lazy in protecting their websites and goes completely against the open web. Of course I could use a vpn but it's getting tiring that I have to do so more and more often.

shmde 3y ago
Blocked from India too. After reading your comment I thought Asia was blocked. But I could read after changing location to Japan with a VPN. Cloudflare straight up blocking countries instead of putting up a captcha.
yellow_lead 3y ago
Taiwan too
ycommentator 3y ago
And (temporarily in) Cambodia.
- weddpros 3y ago
  same, in Siem Reap
branko_d 3y ago
Blocked from Kazakhstan too.
mmgutz 3y ago
Philippines too
leshenka 3y ago
I'm used to government blocking websites and I see this kind of blocking as pure evil. VPN almost never turns off on my phone and my computer. That is, until I moved to a different country What I can't understand is why people are willing to shut their websites from like half of the world. Especially Linux bloggers. Open source, "free as in freedom", right? These people should fight practices like that, not follow them. Amazingly, the country I'm in right now is blacklisted on this website.

shmde 3y ago

> Sorry, you have been blocked. You are unable to access linuxiac.com Why tho ? > Email the site owner with the cloudflare ray id. Okay, where do I get the email id ? Love the false positives. Keep em coming.

leonidasv 3y ago
Got the same error here.
linuxandrew 3y ago
I'm not blocked so here you go - info@linuxiac.com
- shmde 3y ago
  Thanks. Dropped them an email regarding the block.

ctenb 3y ago

Only the "Unknown" category has decreased in market share, which leads me to believe that the linux market share has not increased at all. Just that the data is more complete.

notorandit 3y ago

I think that is an important milestone. An OS whose hardware support is largely closed source on one side and painfully reverse-engineered on the other. Thisnk about the graphics hardware. For years, during the desktop boom in the 2000s, most of the support for networking hardware, wired and wireless, was based on binary blobs coming from Windows OSs and "imported" into a Linux system. How could you dare to use Linux as a desktop? As of today still most of the PC hardware comes with Windows preinstalled. It would be like offering people pink cars which they can paint in a different color, more or less. Nope. I think 3% is a lot if you take into account the amount of efforts needed for people to contrastate the so-called "market push". Linux world is "fragmented" by definition: each main tool and even desktop environment has a number of variants, developed by smallish (fragmented) teams in the name of freedom and choice. Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. Normal (non-techie) people are scared by Linux. Because they have never tried the blue pill. They have never seen how deep the rabbit hole can be.

hardware2win 3y ago
>Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. Consistency, stability?
- notorandit 3y ago
  Stability and consistency is a Windows illusion. Can you run a Windows PC for months without rebooting (no OS update)? To me it's more market grip on people that prefers chains to freedom, not thinking to thinking.
  - hardware2win 3y ago
    I dont know, Im always turning my computer off when not using.
DeathArrow 3y ago
>Windows, on the other side, has a basically monolithic environment in the name of ... dunno what. macOS does it, too. Android does it, too. Basically any os that cares about human interaction.

jzombie 3y ago

That's far better market share per year than my personal projects do.

lemper 3y ago

not sure why but my ip is blocked by cloudflare.

diekhans 3y ago

After years of BSD and Linux on my desktop, I finally figured out that the desktop is about applications. Many of us need to actually accomplish things in addition to develop Open Source software. Had M$ been broken up, maybe it would be different. Until things change, I am happy that at least I can run applications on UNIX based MacOS. 3% is just sarcasm

EGreg 3y ago

Meanwhile Wordpress powers 40% of all websites Basically the difference is that open source needs experts to maintain it, so it works really well for server side stuff and predefined environments. Not as much for desktop.

MattPalmer1086 3y ago
I'd argue it is more inertia and lock in, and the fact that the vast majority of desktop PCs come pre-installed with Windows. Honestly, I spend less time maintaining my Linux desktops than I do fixing the Windows boxes in my house. Had to reinstall Windows completely several times to fix issues with updates not applying and other things that just don't work properly. And don't get me started on the endlessly nested configuration UI in Windows, some bits are modern, some bits seem to date back to XP, nothing is in one place.

theptip 3y ago

So what’s the best desktop distribution these days? Sounds like Ubuntu is out of fashion?

fsflover 3y ago
Debian or PopOS.
timbit42 3y ago
Linux Mint (Cinnamon, XFCE or MATE desktops) or PopOS (Gnome desktop). Of course you can manually install any desktop you want on either.

fulafel 3y ago

As observed by StatCounter, a web analytics company... I guess this is accurate for people who are in the web ads business, but otherwise obviously it's a bad proxy and seems likely it's undercounting a lot since Linux users tend to be savvy enough to block analytics and probably do less web browsing on StatCounter monitored sites. Eg they show Firefox as having too small to see (< 2%) market share here: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share - other data sources show 7-ish %.

tgv 3y ago
I can tell you how much it is in 40000 requests from a "national representative sample" in the Netherlands obtained in the last 6 months: 393 user agents specify Linux without Android. That's just under 1%. Firefox is 2395, or 6%.

leonidasv 3y ago

Interesting: looking at Statcounter data, Linux has been gaining traction in India[0] since 2022 and now accounts for almost 14% of desktop operating systems (it's the 2nd most used OS already). [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/india/#monthly-201901-202306 https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/india/#mo...

anovikov 3y ago

Had to use Linux on a desktop for a few days recently. Have to admit: it has become usable. My previous time was about 10 years ago and then it was a pile of unusable, poorly designed UI.

renewiltord 3y ago

At some point of time, I ended up with a Linux desktop that I rebooted to play games, and a MacOS laptop. And if I'm being honest, I switch between these so seamlessly it's barely visible to me. I would never have thought we would have gotten here. But Mozilla blazed the way making standards real and now all apps are Electron and the cross-platform future is here.

gloosx 3y ago

Can we really trust such data? How good is it statistically? I mean by looking at User-Agent string of web page requests you can try to guess what OS made it, but it is just about the web requests and an arbitrary string that the user can change – can you figure the real OS market share just based on that? They even say they cover only 1.5 mil websites but for sure there are magnitudes more hosted.

rounakdatta 3y ago

https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinuxiac.com%2Flinux-hits-3-percent-market-share https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinuxiac.com%2Flinux-...

iso1631 3y ago

That's nice. Currently in my house I have 11 machines with a linux kernel, including 3 running a desktop gui (xfce), 1 android tablet, 1 chromebook, couple of pis, and the rest being routers and APs. I've also got a windows 10 enterprise laptop I use for testing things at work, a macbook (same purpose). That's ignoring the "iot" vlan with god knows what on (printer, plugs, speakers, even a bulb), but most of that's linux. I wish more devices ran "not-linux" really. For most people, a desktop OS is just a platform to run a web browser on. Chrome's dominant state in that area concerns me more than the dominance of linux in computing.

cfn 3y ago

I am part of the 3% having moved my main driver a few months ago. This is not the first time I move from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu). The last time I moved back to Windows was because Unity was dropped in favor of Gnome and I decided I didn't want a non mainstream DE. Things were already bad as they were. I am happy with it but yesterday morning the computer wouldn't boot so I had to do some hand waving to fix the problem. No idea what caused it.

timbit42 3y ago
A number of people are moving away from the *ubuntus due to the Snap packages and many are moving to Linux Mint (Cinnamon, XFCE, MATE) or PopOS (Gnome). When Canonical moved away from Unity was the point where they abandoned the desktop. Mint and PopOS are better desktops in my opinion.

bouncycastle 3y ago

Probably 100% if you count by household, as chances are that even your digital toothbrush runs the Linux kernel.

trabant00 3y ago

For over 20 years Linux has been my main desktop OS and also my profession. And I hope the year of the Linux desktop never comes. Why? Because I've seen what happened with other niche hobbies of mine that went mainstream. Once the money started pouring in and the race for market share took over the priorities changed drastically from enthusiast hobby to whatever brought one more ounce of commercial success. This already happened to the server side of Linux which has become a pile of over-complicated unstable undocumented mess. Desktop Linux has reached perfection IMHO. People complain about too many distros, package formats, desktop environments, init managers, audio servers and so on. I just love it, I pick and choose whatever I like and I like pretty weird things. I have excellent support and QA from community disto packaging - my Arch install is over 10 years old and I never had to do anything to it besides tinkering for fun. My Debian private server requires 30 minutes every 2 years to switch to the new release. The documentation is heavenly. The commercial offerings (that run on Linux) that pay my bills aren't even in the same league. Neither is Windows or Mac. I want Linux to remain an enthusiast OS. It's not good for my parents, my non-tech friends, and maybe it's not good for you either. That's not a bad thing and I do not want it to change.

lostmsu 3y ago

Is there yet a distribution that has an enable-and-forget full disk encryption with auto unlock on secure boot via TPM or something similar?

p0w3n3d 3y ago

I would say that Linux is the second desktop for development (behind MacOS, in front of Windows), however... I wonder if any of you tried to develop C/C++ on MacOS. It seems that it's impossible to find leaks and misbehavior, while on Linux there is this valgrind that does everything for you. MacOS have some `leaks` tool but it does not really do half of the things valgrind does. So probably I would say "Linux is in the first place". /Writing this on my company's mac/

grive 3y ago
I mean yes that's a weird take, why would MacOS be considered first? I have a Mac provided by my company. None of my development tools are available there, profiling, debugging is a hassle. The only way I can work on it is by booting up linux VM, or connecting to my servers to compile there. Mac is just terrible for development. It's barely better than Windows.
- robbyking 3y ago
  What is your primary language? I’ve worked at some pretty well known tech companies over the last couple of decades, and it’s been nothing but Macs for at least the last 15 or so years.

DeathArrow 3y ago

Funny thing is, even if at my present an last three workplaces we developed software that runs on Linux, our development laptops still used Windows.

DeathArrow 3y ago

I am happy to run Linux on servers and Windows on the desktop, for me that means the right tool for the right job. If other people like to run Linux on the desktop or Windows on the servers, I don't have anything against it. Everyone should run what it suits him best.

DeathArrow 3y ago

I run Linux every day on my desktop, in WSL2. I am not sure what distro it is, I wasn't curious about it, but I presume it's Ubuntu.

dartvox 3y ago

[dead]

DeathArrow 3y ago

I'd venture to say 99% of people don't give a damn on what their os is. All they care is to run their apps without the os getting in their way or breaking. They don't feel the need to and don't want to be forced to tweak, customize, fine tune and manage that os a lot.

oldandboring 3y ago
I'll go even further and say that most people, even younger people, still think in terms of "computer" and not OS, like it's an appliance. It's about as sophisticated an understanding out there as it was in the 90s. When I'm asked for computer buying advice, they ask me "Mac or PC?" or maybe "Mac or Dell?" For phones it's, "iPhone or Samsung"? Eyes would glaze over if I tried explaining that Dell, Lenovo, HP machines etc all run Windows, except the ones that are Chromebooks... and I would never EVER recommend Linux to a normie unless I wanted to forever be their tech support.

elektrontamer 3y ago

I once installed an Ubuntu 17 on an old desktop and my mother used it just fine. Most people don't need Windows. It's just that it comes with anything you buy and most people won't learn something new unless forced to. And to be fair why should they? They don't mind the extra cost and couldn't care less about our oss. We need to get them when they're young and impressionable and turn them into little linux evangelists.

cassepipe 3y ago
I have met a lot of idealist linux evangelist but I was yet to meet the Machiavellian linux evangelist. I am glad to meet you and support your quest for world desktop domination.
DeathArrow 3y ago
Take a page from other minorities/activists work and push for affirmative action for Linux in schools, universities and workplaces. If a place uses another OS, that means Linux users are being discriminated against.
- forinti 3y ago
  My firm was hacked, but only the Windows machines suffered. So there's the value of diversity for you. I'm pushing for some FreeBSD now.
forinti 3y ago
I did the same thing for my mother in law, because other family members kept installing trash on her PC. Such was the success, that my sister in law started using LibreOffice and quite likes it.

lwhi 3y ago

I suppose 2024 will be the year of the Linux desktop ...

lsofzz 3y ago

> Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share (linuxiac.com) And the desktop market amongst servers, cell phone, consumer electronics is? Linux doesn't need to play this game because it has already won it - a long time ago.

tap-snap-or-nap 3y ago

Running Linux on Mac solves most of my issues.

vidyesh 3y ago

Alt link for everyone blocked by Cloudflare https://archive.is/uaICX https://archive.is/uaICX

sidcool 3y ago

Somehow I am being blocked by Cloudflare from accessing the website. I am not on VPN or something.

snvzz 3y ago

Linux desktop adoption being bad might be a good thing. UNIX-like systems are very obsolete and something to move away from. I'd rather it be the next system that takes off. Hopefully a properly engineered system based on a microkernel (such as seL4) multiserver architecture, preferably with capabilities. I do of course use Linux, as a stopgap until such a thing is here.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

WesolyKubeczek 3y ago

On one hand, yay, on the other: * The share of desktops themselves is shrinking towards mobile * The other desktop OSes are steadily turning into shite, so there are fewer compelling reasons to stay on them * Everything is in the browser anyway, so as long at it can run Chrome, no one bats an eyelash

jerrygenser 3y ago

Does anyone have a recommended security checklist or config guides for secure Linux on desktop? Despite my previous assumptions I've read some recent indications that it's not as secure as windows and macos.

jononomo 3y ago

I don't understand why someone would want to run Linux on a desktop.

timbit42 3y ago
Not everyone is like you or has the same needs as you.

treffer 3y ago

The big question is IMHO why. Are people fleeing the Windows as Ad Space direction? Are they fed up with Mac OS oddities? Do they use their Steam deck more? Or are they just enjoying the Linux experience.... I know that after years of Linux usage I can't stand Windows in-your-face Ads and "use our accounts". And I can't stand the locked down Apple ecosystem either. But what drives others? Are there any good sources on that question?

haolez 3y ago
I'm not your average user (as most in this forum), but I've recently migrated to Linux as my daily driver because of Windows as Ad Space :)
fendy3002 3y ago
For general population, I guess it's steam deck. For programmer / power user, I guess linux desktop is now in good state, for programming I find very minimum difficulty on using Ubuntu. It is now a viable choice beside mac and windows. Furthermore with steam proton and lutris we can play many games with linux which was impossible. The programming device and gaming device now can use single Linux os

jongjong 3y ago

Linux (especially Ubuntu and Kubuntu) nowadays is so much more user friendly than it was 5 years ago. Before, you couldn't do anything without bringing up the terminal. As a developer, I'm a big fan of Kubuntu. I use an Apple laptop during my day job and my productivity is way lower on MacOS. I need Kubuntu's workspaces feature to quickly switch between console, browser and IDE - With MacOS workspaces, I need to keep tapping on the arrow key until I see the window I want and then I need to release the keys; by that time, I've already lost my train of thought. I need workspace switching to rely on my muscle memory to switch to any workspace with a single set of hotkeys. MacOS has so many annoying things which drive me nuts; like it doesn't show the full path in finder (and can't easily manipulate it), deleting files feels like a hassle. I hate that screenshots go to my Desktop and I can't quickly tell it where to go. The experience overall feels restrictive, obscures what's really going on and prioritizes the wrong things. I already tweaked my settings to fix some of these things but it's still not as good as Kubuntu... The main positive thing I have to say about MacOS is it's better than Windows.

patrulek 3y ago

Linux is fine for tech people, but it is far behind on list for non-tech people. It is (was? im not into Linux) just less friendly and usable. I would guess that most of the people are not that much tech-familiar.

fsflover 3y ago
My non-tech relatives are using Linux just fine (I installed it for them).

forrestthewoods 3y ago

As a game dev who uses Windows threads like this are super interesting. I’m still moderately convinced that Linux users are suffering Stockholm Syndrome. Linux devs still don’t have a debugger as good as Visual Studio and insist that printf is good enough. Y’all are crazy and don’t realize how horrible your workflows are. IMHO. Of course it could be me that has Stockholm Syndrome!

metaltyphoon 3y ago
I use all 3 OSes everyday. Work on Windows / WSL (Ubuntu) and macOS for personal. Gdb is great but nothing can touch VS debugger. printf only is insanity.

lproven 3y ago

TFA gets its own figures wrong. ChromeOS is a Linux. Therefore its numbers should be included. 3.08 + 4.15 = 7.23% Still not all that impressive, but better than twice as good as claimed, a solid 3rd place after macOS, and still climbing.

danpalmer 3y ago
Technically, but not usefully. It depends what you're trying to communicate. ChromeOS is based on Linux but most Linux enthusiasts aren't going to consider it Desktop Linux. The website is clearly catering to a Linux enthusiast market so the numbers communicate the right thing for its readers.
- lproven 3y ago
  This just quickly descends into a "no true Scotsman" argument. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman It's a Linux kernel and a Linux userland on top of `glibc`. It's not a weird libc, like Bionic in Android. You can run a Debian container and Debian apps; my own ChromeOS Flex machine runs Firefox and DOSemu. It's a Linux. It's the most successful desktop Linux there is, and so of course all the advocates decry it as not being a True Linux, but then again the Fedora lot think Ubuntu is junk, and the Debian lot think everything is junk, and the Arch folk think they're more cutting-edge, and the NixOS folk think all the rest are still in the stone age somewhere...
  - danpalmer 3y ago
    Honestly I don't think this is playing silly games with words, I think it's just a website knowing their readership. Linux is two things: a kernel and an ecosystem of distributions. This website is clearly targeting users of distributions that brand themselves as "Linux distributions". In that way, ChromeOS is obviously not a Linux distribution to anyone that cares about Linux distributions.
    - lproven 3y ago

sylware 3y ago

Android/linux did confirm the following: until it does a not too shabby job at being an operating system, the only thing that matters: mass default installation on devices. How to do it when the devices are already locked-in by a monopoly? That would be ultra hardcore regulation (USA grade) with alternatives which would have to be financially backed by some means to keep those alternatives "out-of-the-economy", until it reaches economic equilibrium (if ever... since big tech has infinite money...). That said, current elf/linux distros have a lot of nasty too (planned obsolescence is very strong).

nologic01 3y ago

I am fairly confident that the best days of the linux desktop are ahead of us. 3% might become 30% in a few years. Technology adoption takes strange paths but the history of linux is one of remarkable resilience and capability which augurs well for the future. My guess is that a key driver of growth will come from power users that will make best use of local AI and data science tools, preserving privacy and commercial secrecy. While many many casual users will continue using thin clients, effectively outsourcing their digital lives to the "cloud", this is unlikely to continue being the 97%. The opportunity is, e.g., for all the apps of the linux desktop to start making use of the python ML tools to empower users with unprecedented functionality. There is no reason that all of that new universe must be ceded to a small number of actors. This opportunity was there for a long time now, ML is not new, but the broader FOSS community is quite reactive. Emulating proprietary / closed tools to a fault (eg the libreoffice suite) rather than exploring the unique opportunities of alternative paths has been the norm. Luckily the AI hype will work as a kick in the butt. The future is for linux to lose.

zombieprocess 3y ago

Any recommendations for Linux based laptops for software development that is < $1000?

jerrygenser 3y ago
Get an older Dell XPS 15. Newer gen are above this price point but 2-3 gen back will be very nice. Battery, WiFi chip, memory, and storage are all upgradeable; you'll just be signing up for a given chip generation. L
oldandboring 3y ago
A Framework laptop starts at about $1050. Mine is truly the best Linux laptop I've ever owned.

rmrf100 3y ago

Good to know, Linux desktop is suitable for most cases.

funemployed 3y ago

You know how I know that the desktop market is no longer the primary consumer market? Because Linux has a 3% market share.

ZunarJ5 3y ago

Ten years ago I started on Linux because my ADHD ass needed pcs last minute at college and the Ubuntu machines were always the ones open whereas the Windows and Mac ones had lines out the door. Though my main pc runs Windows now, I don't think my next one will. I'm continually getting let down with the inflexibility and bloat on these systems, which probably parallels an increase of knowledge and skills. As for Mac, I tried to set up an old iPad last night and nearly put it in the garbage due to the silly restrictions set by the OS. I'm a researcher and keep hearing colleagues complaining about declining computer skills and after trying to use that iPad I understand why. I hope Linux becomes more mainstream in the future. I think it would be a collective net gain.

RexFactorem 3y ago

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inparen 3y ago

Me and along with people who do not work on DotNet or iOS app development, that includes Java, PHP, BI, Salesforce and even Sales and Marketing guys use Ubuntu for last 15 years (50 - 70 people). We do normal dev stuff like program & emails & meetings & docker and etc. When I installed Ubuntu on HP Pavillion dv4 laptop for one of the friend, who was casual user, said - what kind of OS is this, which is still working after 6 years. :) Happy to contribute to that 3%.

_8j50 3y ago

I am not sure I want Linux to be super popular on the desktop, just usable enough for anyone who wants an alternative desktop OS to use. It's thanks to redhat and corporate types using it so much that all sorts of controversial and divisive changes were introduced. The monetization aspect is also hard to resist when 100M+ people use your OS, takes a lot of character to resist becoming a billionaire by selling out your original users who heleped you succeed.

ntfAX 3y ago

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nathants 3y ago

as long a desktop linux isn’t made illegal, this is fine. not that many people have a ps5 devkit either, it doesn’t make them less important.

mariuz 3y ago

I will quote Linus :" So I think that in order to make it in a consumer market, you really do need to be pre-installed. And as Android has shown, Linux really can be very much a consumer product. So it's not that the consumer market itself would necessarily be a fundamentally hard nut to crack, but the "you need to come preinstalled" thing is a big thing. And on the laptop and desktop market, we just haven't ever had any company making that kind of play. And don't get me wrong - it's not an easy play to make. That said, I wouldn't dismiss it either. The whole "ubiquitous web browser" thing has made that kind of consumer play be more realistic, and I think that Google's Chrome push (Chromebox and Chromebooks) is clearly aiming towards that. So I'm still hopeful. For me, Linux on the desktop is where I started, and Linux on the desktop is literally what I still use today primarily - although I obviously do have other Linux devices, including an Android phone - so I'd personally really love for it to take over in that market too. " https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419231 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419231

ultranano1 3y ago

Coming from someone that uses Linux all the time at work and for personal projects. It's amazing, but the main user experience isn't there yet. For example I tried Ubuntu Unity on a fresh install for a week or so recently and it was popping up with unknown errors randomly. It also lacks any hotkeys. Software centre seems to have improved but is still buggy. Also there are still occasional issues which make the machine not bootable and hard to sort without stack overflow and some reasonable Linux knowledge. Ended up swapping back to i3 and just using my old confs. Which I think is the main issue. There isn't really a good, reliable, simple, predictable desktop experience yet like you get on Windows or MacOS.

brachika 3y ago

I always get surprised when I read OS share information. Could swear more than 3% of (personal) computers in the world run Linux.