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Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

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Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#71

Post by layer8 »

shaunpud wrote: post #25
theandrewbailey wrote: post #3

I work in the refurb division of an e-waste recycling company. Due to licensing costs and our certifications, we can't sell anything with Windows. My coworkers install Ubuntu, but I install Linux Mint. We don't have any clue if people keep using Linux or install Windows, but it's cool to think we're helping to move this needle. Edit: might as well link to the merch: https://www.ebay.com/str/evolutionecycling

I thought the Windows license was burned into the BIOS, so a reinstall would pick it up automatically?

It’s not burned into the BIOS, instead Microsoft maintains a database mapping licenses to hardware identifiers. But transferable licenses still exist, and enterprise volume licenses are yet a different beast, so it all depends on what Windows license the PC was originally sold with, if any.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#72

Post by mr_toad »

shaunpud wrote: post #25
theandrewbailey wrote: post #3

I work in the refurb division of an e-waste recycling company. Due to licensing costs and our certifications, we can't sell anything with Windows. My coworkers install Ubuntu, but I install Linux Mint. We don't have any clue if people keep using Linux or install Windows, but it's cool to think we're helping to move this needle. Edit: might as well link to the merch: https://www.ebay.com/str/evolutionecycling

I thought the Windows license was burned into the BIOS, so a reinstall would pick it up automatically?

It’s in the ACPI tables, in ACPI Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM), not the BIOS. An home user might be able to active it, but the repair shop probably can’t legally.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#73

Post by palata »

tiborsaas wrote: post #43
ryandv wrote: post #22

Based on the history of the tech industry, Linux adoption should be kept at this level and advanced no further. This is already the sweet spot for the "year of the Linux desktop," which should be celebrated by experts, technical users, and the sufficiently motivated. Once the unwashed masses start coming in, the software and its interaction patterns pander to the lowest common denominator and the quality of the mediu…

"oh no, the peasants are using MY operating system, this can't be good"

I think it's more "they will give less control in order to please the peasants, and as a result I will lose control".

And I agree with that concern, though my hope is that we can make it easier for the peasants without sacrificing control for the nerds (trying to find a word that would work with "peasant" in this context :D).

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#74

Post by Fade_Dance »

ahartmetz wrote: post #49
Fade_Dance wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have literally never seen a Linux desktop in the wild. Speaking as a "normal" person who occasionally builds PCs for friends, fixes family computers, etc. I have an old ThinkPad with Linux, but agreed, no way this can be true.

I'm not particularly surprised anymore to see Linux on people's laptops in public, usually while travelling (you don't usually see people using laptops in public much otherwise). That is mostly in Germany where I live. Linux is, of course, also very common in universities.

The article is on the US statistic though. If it was a global statistic it wouldn't surprise me at all.

When it comes to laptops, we have a lot of MacBooks out there, and an endless Sea of $400 low quality Lenovos and HPs eternally marching to the garbage bins.

Ultimately my observation is just anecdotal, but I have built a lot of computers for people worked on a lot of family PCS, etc, and have never once worked with a Linux system in that context in 25 years of doing that stuff. I'm not interacting with a tech oriented crowd though (obviously those people would be chatting about tech instead and I would never be touching their system). Perhaps the tech oriented crowd is big enough to hit 5%, or perhaps Linux gaming is moving the needle, but I can't imagine 1 in 20 system is Linux in the US. I just can't.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#75

Post by chii »

ryandv wrote: post #22

Based on the history of the tech industry, Linux adoption should be kept at this level and advanced no further. This is already the sweet spot for the "year of the Linux desktop," which should be celebrated by experts, technical users, and the sufficiently motivated. Once the unwashed masses start coming in, the software and its interaction patterns pander to the lowest common denominator and the quality of the mediu…

> the quality of the medium degrades.

not necessarily. There's room to have the mass market make breakthroughs in laymen software for linux if there's sufficient demand.

And having the mass market lowest common denominator doesnt remove the good stuff - they still exist and you could still choose to use them. This is esp. true for linux, where as you'd have fewer choice/customizability for windows as it's close sourced.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#77

Post by Longhanks »

zozbot234 wrote: post #60
elsjaako wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that OS X goes down for the same period. I believe Apple is calling it MacOS now. So that looks like it might be some change in how Apple computers are reporting their OS.

"mac OS" not "MacOS". MacOS is for the older pre-OS X versions.

"macOS" not "mac OS", to align with "iOS", "iPadOS", "watchOS" and "tvOS".

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#78

Post by antipurist »

zozbot234 wrote: post #60
elsjaako wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that OS X goes down for the same period. I believe Apple is calling it MacOS now. So that looks like it might be some change in how Apple computers are reporting their OS.

"mac OS" not "MacOS". MacOS is for the older pre-OS X versions.

It's "macOS" [1] if you really want to be pedantic. However, it's still "Intel Mac OS X" in Safari UA even on M1 MacBook, so why Statcounter data includes both OS X and macOS remains a mystery.

[1] https://www.apple.com/macos/macos-sequoia/

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#79

Post by mr_toad »

master-lincoln wrote: post #66
art0rz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that worse when the key is bound to the hardware and non-transferable anyway?

why would it be non-transferable?

OEM licenses are legally (and practically) tied to the machine. There’s no way to transfer it.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#80

Post by palata »

bitmasher9 wrote: post #52
megous wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux based distributions solve this by not being a monoculture, no? Pandering to the masses would be in the form of specific desktop environment, and maybe specific distribution integrating it well with all kinds of desktop software. Nothing would change for the existing users of obscure software, hackishly stitched together.

Not at all. All Linux distributions essentially run the same software with different packages and configuration files. There are a few either/or choices they make, but it’s mostly overlap with very little disro specific software. If Linux software starts widely adapting more dark patterns it will probably impact users across all distributions.

I share that concern, but again: if more people move to Linux, maybe (?) more people will become advanced Linux user and maybe (?) it will bring more activity into advanced distros.

Not that I believe it will necessarily be good, but I'm not sure it will necessarily be bad. Could go both ways, IMO.

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