Linux market share passes 4% for first time ( arstechnica.com )

We see the nearly 33-year-old OS’s market share growing 31.3 percent from June 2023, when we last reported on Linux market share, to February. Since June, Linux usage has mostly increased gradually. Overall, there's been a big leap in usage compared to five years ago. In February 2019, Linux was reportedly on 1.58 percent of desktops globally.

rottingleaf ,

I hope there's geometric progression somewhere.

Many Linux distributions suck, and the way many people use Linux sucks too, but it'd still be a bit better world if Linux would be mainstream OS.

Even better if that'd be NetBSD, of course. OpenBSD if performance would be better. FreeBSD - just better.

MTK ,

We should each create 5 small VMs with a Linux desktop on them and keep them running.

We'll kick it up to like 5%!

PanArab ,

It is really nice to see an alternative to US corporate tech making inroads. But to get the numbers even higher the US needs to ban the Chinese and Russians from using Windows and I hope they do.

rottingleaf ,

But to get the numbers even higher the US needs to ban the Chinese and Russians from using Windows and I hope they do.

It's been not that long since most of Windows installations in Russia were pirated ones, with MS updates turned off (in case they try something).

There's a popular opinion that MS liked it this way - they get just as huge a userbase as everywhere else, and they don't have to change pricing policy to make it affordable in ex-USSR.

I'm not sure if there's point to talking seriously about Western software licensing in China.

My point is that numbers won't get higher for such reasons.

GomJabbar ,

That's a significant bump since June.

I'm eagerly optimistic about the future of Linux smartphones, as well. I would have already jumped ship if phones like the Librem 5 or the Pinephone had better cameras. Exciting times for Linux folks.

httperror418 ,

What would people recommend if the main reason you use windows is gaming? I have an AMD CPU and a Nvidia GPU, if drivers are good etc, which OS would you use

GomJabbar ,

Gaming support on Linux is in a really nice place right now. However, if gaming is the only reason you use a laptop, you should stick with Windows, at least for the time being.

20hzservers ,

To add, if you are on the fence for this reason I'd do an 80/20 dual boot. Buy a second hard drive it doesn't have to be very big, then move your personal files to Linux and use that as a daily driver and have the second drive to just use for nothing but games that won't run on Linux but you really want to play/friends want to play with you. You'll find that you rarely have to use the second boot but the second drive will cover your bases for the edge cases, 256gb or even less should be just fine for the second drive since you should only have 1-2 games that won't play nice with Linux. I wouldn't partition unless you have a massive drive with space to spare it's just really annoying to get the space back into one portion if you decide to go back to a single partition.

httperror418 ,

I use Linux daily within my job, it's just I'm curious which OS people find the best for gaming (I run servers etc but want to see what people find is the least painful for gaming).

Basically, come the evening after work, I CBA to spend ages configuring stuff to then be able to play as time is precious in the evening

20hzservers ,

I use mint and barely had to do much trouble shooting and once everything was working how I wanted it didn't break for me I just boot up and play, the things I had to trouble shoot were getting my headphones to work and my Logitech mouse keybindings but they were both 5min searches to find programs to install and fix the problems, if you use Linux for work it will probably be even easier.

httperror418 ,

I'll have a play later as I have a partition ready for dual boot. I only got windows 11 for cheap to see how it was but the constant bringing up of bing is irritating

httperror418 ,

Got a desktop, and can support dual boot (I partitioned my SSD at the start to do it so I could test stuff out).

In terms of an os, which would you recommend

GomJabbar ,

If you mean which Linux distribution I'd recommend for a gaming setup, I'd recommend Ubuntu. Many believe it to be the best for gaming on Linux. It also has a large community, so finding support (should you need it) won't be a problem.

httperror418 ,

Yeah, basically that, I'll have a go with Ubuntu (I use it for servers usually but never used it for my own gaming setup)

AtmaJnana ,

Statcounter says it gets its desktop operating system (OS) usage stats from tracking code installed on over 1.5 million global websites generating over 5 billion monthly page views.

...

Statcounter is a web analytics service. Our tracking code is installed on more than 1.5 million sites globally. These sites cover various activities and geographic locations. Every month, we record billions of page views to these sites. For each page view, we analyse the browser/operating system/screen resolution used and we establish if the page view is from a mobile device. For our search engine stats, we analyze every page view referred by a search engine. For our social media stats, we analyze every page view referred by a social media site. We summarize all this data to get our Global Stats information.

So... because I am blocking any and all trackers, I
may not count towards this at all? Presumably the same is true of many Lemmy users.

dukethorion ,
@dukethorion@lemmy.world avatar

And probably most Linux users, generally.

Mio ,

As long as you can't see Linux machines in normal computer stores it will not happen.
Users never get the opportunity to experience it.
Today there is no killer feature really like the other OS have.

Plopp ,

People go to computer stores?

silva ,

Yes, non-linux users

Plopp ,

I don't think I remember the last time I heard about someone, Linux user or not, going to a computer store. In fact, I don't even know if there are computer stores around here anymore.

elucubra ,

Plenty of big box stores here carry computers. There are also also electronics megastores like Mediamarkt, Saturn, and others.

silva ,

I don't know about where you live, but in Switzerland there are still stores where you can buy computers. In fact, all computers my parents ever bought are from computer stores.

Plopp ,

Sweden. People, including my parents, buy computers (and everything else) online over here. Someone mentioned Mediamarkt, and we do have those around here as well, although I've never heard of anyone actually buying a computer there. But I'm sure some do.

jj4211 ,

Most likely Best Buy, Office Depot, or Wal Mart for the typical brick and mortar. Apple Stores too, but that's a bit beside the point.

Office Depot gets benefits like a workspace where "hey, a laptop broke, we'll get it warranty repaired, but in the mean time hop over to Office Depot and charge whatever because we need a replacement right this minute". Strangely, even after all this time, there are folks that still need to touch and poke and ask questions before they settle.

Online is great if you are very particular and know what you want and can afford to wait a day or two because you want a somewhat less popular model. If you aren't too particular, want some in person reassurances, or in a great hurry, then brick and mortar still wins.

Stegget ,

I'm people, does microcenter count?

m3t00 ,
@m3t00@lemmy.world avatar

here i was thinking i must be doing it wrong my last 5 rrigs from newegg. latest build

Artemis_Mystique ,

The killer features(for me) are: Privacy(by Default), Opensource, Decent performance on old hardware, looks pretty(variable), basic software compatibility(else i would just use TempleOS)

rottingleaf ,

Privacy(by Default)

Not once you get on the Web.

Decent performance on old hardware

I don't know what you call old. Also not once you get on the Web.

looks pretty(variable),

Yessir, and for me that could be a sufficient reason alone. Sad that conkeror is no more usable for a browser.

Artemis_Mystique ,

Atleast i am acutely aware of what is phoning home(Unlike M$), I avoid G services like the plague, but whenever i am forced to use them they sit in a separate FF profile, I know what links what and who are in kahoots with whom: If you take the approach that going on the web is equivalent to waltzing in a big public market square, and apply the appropriate precautions, you can ensure you're late night pillow searches are never linked back to your G account.

My hardware is atleast 13 Yr old at this point, and it runs the latest Linux kernel and the Gnome DE just fine, Video playback and the general Internet is just 'fine'; you can equate it to providing a mobility scooter to an old grandma who is mentally fit

rottingleaf ,

Going on the web is equivalent to waltzing into big port city's cheapest and biggest brothel.

OK, so it's 13 years, I was imagining c2d.

Artemis_Mystique ,

I would equate the darkweb to that moniker and not the general clear web (that is at this point running on the infrastructure of just 3-4 companies, so its more like a choice between malls than individual vendors)

I was imagining c2d.

What?

rottingleaf ,

No, "the darkweb" is actually cleaner.

Core 2 Duo

Artemis_Mystique ,

agree to disagree

I once nagged my friend to install Zorin Os lite on his c2d laptop with 2gb of RAM, he still uses it to this day

rottingleaf ,

If you don't surf the Web much - yes, still usable.

JohnDClay ,

Maybe if framework gets big?

m3t00 ,
@m3t00@lemmy.world avatar

thank router firmwares

AtmaJnana ,

ixnay

Statcounter says it gets its desktop operating system (OS) usage stats from tracking code installed on over 1.5 million global websites generating over 5 billion monthly page views.

gilbert31 ,

We should thank Microsoft for rendering Windows absolutely unusable, to the point that many people are just jumping ship and installing a Linux distro.

baseless_discourse ,

Yeah, microsoft making outlook worse and worse every year sends me to thunderbird. And thunderbird suck on Windows, so I finally switched back to linux after years of using windows (I switched to windows when Windows 10 released).

I am surprised that linux is pretty usable at this point, much better than 7 years ago. I feel much more productive in gnome than on Windows at this point.

rottingleaf ,

I am surprised that linux is pretty usable at this point, much better than 7 years ago.

While I'm surprised it's still usable at this point, with all the enthusiasm about things ending it, but still not as good as 7 years ago for me.

The year of the Linux desktop was 2011.

Zeoic ,

What kind of things got worse with outlook? I still use it for work, and the ui has changed, sure, but still seems to do everything it used to. In fact, the progressive web app even works quite well on linux!

baseless_discourse ,

I am referring to the email client preinstalled with windows, not the office 365 version. MS adds ad to it and dramatically changed the UI (I forgot what problem I encountered with the new UI), that drives me towards thunderbird.

Zeoic ,

Ahh, gotcha. Last I saw it was called Windows Live Mail and was already just suuuper basic. I am kind of impressed they managed to make it worse haha

philpo ,

You can thank me later - I literally installed Linux back as my primary OS after being back on Windows for ages on the day before this report came out the first time.

Capitao_Duarte ,
@Capitao_Duarte@lemmy.eco.br avatar

Same! Just did it last Friday

baseless_discourse ,

Why do I see this link every day on my feed with different thumbnails?

olafurp ,

I upvote it every time, sorry

baseless_discourse ,

Me too! Just confused who is posting them, and how do they found cuter and cuter penguin photos.

moon ,

Year of the Linux desktop babyyyy

Synnr ,

Year of the Linux Desktop! 1999-2035!

asexualchangeling ,

What happened in 2036?

Mio ,

OS Y came out

Synnr , (edited )

The Y2K38 Epochalypse bug hit 2 years early due to Microsoft's rushed implementation of Windows Subsystem for Linux under CEO Elon Musk, causing all newer systems running Windows to combust due to a combination of the bug, and a cyberattack on Musk's new chip fab plant in the state of Mexas. The only widespread choices after that are WacOS and Ubuntrue, both parent companies owned by Elon Musk after winning in his presidential prelection in 2026 and removing all antitrust legislation. However there is a hobbyist Unix distribution still being passed around called Briarch that fixed the 2038 problem in 2025 when development started, but you have to be in close proximity to someone with it to get it, which is easy in the country of California but not as easy east of the Nutah border, you really have to trust someone to even ask if they have it.

JohnDClay ,

Year of the Linux portable gaming handheld?

atocci ,

2 years in a row babyyyy

chemicalwonka ,
@chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

to the moon 🚀

uis , (edited )
@uis@lemm.ee avatar

Air passes 10% market share.

It is hard and kinda pointless to talk about market share of something that isn't sold.

TheGrandNagus ,

It's not hard to talk about it at all. People are talking about it right now.

How does it matter whether the software is paid for or not?

LazyBane ,

It does for software becuase when somthing gains enough marketshare it then becomes somthing that businesses start to consider as a general option.

Like the reason Adobe gets by despite the culture for just pirating their software is becuase even piracy gives market share, and Adobe products are so commonly used that corporations feel obliged to use Adobe licences in their projects.

nexguy ,
@nexguy@lemmy.world avatar

It looks like it's because macos lost a lot for some reason over the last couple of years with Windows and Linux picking up that share. Anyone know why?

Shyfer ,

I'm going to guess that everything else became so expensive, like food and rent, that people have less money to spend on a computer, and there's is particularly expensive. But that's just my guess.

superduperenigma ,

My company was pushing MacBooks and iMacs on developers for years, now they're reversing course. I'm guessing it's a combination of the upfront cost and the hassle of enterprise administration, tech support, and security having to officially handle 2 different OS's. It's much easier to have everyone on similar setups, and Windows is basically the "default" OS for corporate users.

mesamunefire ,

The new arch continues to mess up brew, which is by far what people use for development on the platform. In addition, docker and other custom tools are paid on Mac but free on Linux. With companies tightening their belts, Linux is starting to make financial sense.

LeonenTheDK ,

What's this about Docker not being free on MacOS? I have it installed and use it for dev work and it didn't cost anything.

darkevilmac ,
@darkevilmac@lemmy.zip avatar

Docker desktop has a license that restricts commercial use depending on the size of your company/employer.

Use Colima to be on the safe side.

LeonenTheDK ,

Ah right on thanks for the info, I had no idea. My company is less than 10 people with single digit million revenue so it appears we're not violating anything. I knew they had a paid service, but none of that seems unique to MacOS.

TORFdot0 ,

People migrating to iPads maybe? I figured that Mac and Linux both would be making gains. Especially with apple silicon being 3 generations in and windows 11 sucking so much.

Wonder if iPads are cutting into that all. Considering they are cheaper than a MacBook which basically requires you to drop at least a grand for entry level devices

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