Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share • Hacker News Board

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#141

Post by ImPleadThe5th » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:26 AM UTC

kekebo wrote: post #101

borissk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

WSL being a recent counter factor, as much as I don't enjoy Windows it got a lot more bearable for me since I can manage it through a Debian installation. Filesystem access, Windows program execution and running cmd.exe/powershell commands without having to open either of them removes some of the pain

It's nice and all, but it still feels far from being a first class citizen.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#142

Post by borissk » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:28 AM UTC

blowski wrote: post #98

borissk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Will 2024 be the year of Linux on the desktop? This prediction has been made pretty much every year so far this century, no reason to stop now.

How did you go from "a lot of people will switch" to "the year of Linux on desktop"?

Microsoft is making a lot of changes that will annoy the expert users. Stuff like a Settings app that has a single screen - e.g. one makes changes to his network setup, decides to increase the brightness of the screen - the Settings app navigates from network to screen and the user progress with network is lost.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#143

Post by taneliv » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:29 AM UTC

borissk wrote: post #77

bruce511 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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.

Heavily doubt that those would make people switch. Maaaybe, if their social circle already uses Linux.

However, make the next Minecraft, Fortnite or Roblox work only (or considerably better) on Linux desktop[], and you will suddenly gain a lot more new users. Some of whom will stick around, since all their other apps work the same in the browser.

[] Whatever that term means, even the article makes a distinction between that and Chrome OS.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#144

Post by steve1977 » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:29 AM UTC

DiabloD3 wrote: post #49

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 b…

The article is about desktop market share (the headline is a bit misleading).

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#145

Post by ben0x539 » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:30 AM UTC

self_awareness wrote: post #104

ben0x539 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok maybe i'm a sore loser, but looking at where the popular desktop OSes have been going going i think i'm fine with linux remaining an enthusiast thing

Exactly my thoughts. I think Linux is in a good sweet spot; popular enough so that applications advertise support for Linux, but not popular enough to be spoiled and optimized for the "casual" user.

It also helps that there have been very few important (big, complicated) applications in the past decade or two. Firefox is there? My development environment is there? I'm probably good.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#146

Post by oldgradstudent » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:32 AM UTC

DiabloD3 wrote: post #49

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 b…

Also routers (at least one in each internet-connected home), NAS devices, e-book Readers, car entertainment consoles, and many more.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#147

Post by iso1631 » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:32 AM UTC

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.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#148

Post by cozzyd » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:34 AM UTC

hulitu wrote: post #17

MBCook wrote: post #4

> 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 gro…

Who uses ChromeOS ? Here in EU I haven't seen or heard anyone using this.

my wife primarily uses a chromebook (she likes the small form factorfits in her purse and is cheap to replace if she breaks it). She also has a Windows laptop, but she uses that much less often, and almost never takes it places.

(my computers, by contrast, all run Linux, and have for the last 17 years...)

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#149

Post by ycommentator » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:34 AM UTC

sersi wrote: post #65

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.

And (temporarily in) Cambodia.

Re: Linux has achieved a 3% desktop market share

#150

Post by gloosx » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 6:36 AM UTC

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.