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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

#151
This begs the question: At what threshold would we consider it 'the year of Linux on the desktop'?

5% seems too low. Would it be 30%? Or 51%?

Answering that question in the public sphere may quell many of the "Is ___ going to the year of the Linux desktop?" posts we get each year.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#153

Linux will be stuck in the 5% range as long as people who love Linux are the ones making Linux. You still cannot crtl+V in the terminal. No faster way to scare off users than give them a CLI heavy OS and have the trip over the very first copy+paste command they try to run (once they figure out the circa ~1982 cursor) I really cannot say enough about the total fumble of Linux distros in an age when people are more des…

> Linux will be stuck in the 5% range as long as people who love Linux are the ones making Linux.

Why is 5% a magic number? Why not 4% or 6% or 10%?

> You still cannot crtl+V in the terminal.

Try Shift+Ins. CLI and GUI conventions have always been different, and the sort of users who work in the terminal are the ones who know the difference. Overloading Ctrl+V, and breaking applications that run in the terminal, just to make two completely different paradigms use the same hotkeys seems a bit ridiculous to me.

BTW, this applies across OSes, and isn't specific to Linux.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#155
post #53

I have to wonder how much of this is people switching to Linux vs the larger trend of people not having traditional computers to begin with. Outside of gamers, I don't know anyone that has a computer at home that is not their work laptop if they have one. At least in my circle everyone I know has moved to their general computing being on phones and tablets which is not captured here. So is a solid chunk of this the p…

The truth is, it doesn't really matter.

What's important is that we have an alternative to keep Microsoft and Apple honest. If they overdo it with their crappy ideas - like showing ads in the start menu or recording the desktop - then people can easily switch, at least for personal computing.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#156
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Admittedly yeah SteamOS does walk that line, and I guess technically given that I think these numbers are based on browser data it would only be capturing the people that actually go into desktop mode (maybe?). But, I think there is a conversation around this to ask how many of the people using a Steam Deck actually go into desktop mode or care that it is Linux (or even understand that it is Linux) vs would switch to…

Even in the "normal mode", I would argue that it is still Linux Desktop. A Linux Desktop init system, with a Linux Desktop userspace, with a Linux Desktop libc, with the Linux Desktop security model, a Linux Desktop package manager, a Linux Desktop compositor (it uses something based on Wayland, right?), etc. If you open a terminal (or SSH into it), you're on Linux. It's very, very different on Android. > how many of…

I would agree on most points regarding SteamOS except for package manager: there are really two on the system — base one and Steam itself.

Users generally only care about the latter.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#157
post #53

I have to wonder how much of this is people switching to Linux vs the larger trend of people not having traditional computers to begin with. Outside of gamers, I don't know anyone that has a computer at home that is not their work laptop if they have one. At least in my circle everyone I know has moved to their general computing being on phones and tablets which is not captured here. So is a solid chunk of this the p…

How many of the Linux desktops counted here are Steam Decks?

The stats come from website trackers - do people browse the web on Steam Decks?

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#158

I really liked the recent picture of Linus Torvalds and Bill gets, hard to believe that after all these years of “competition,” they had never actually met before. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1lh34ox/linus_torval...

This is really cool. I had no idea this had happened.

Thirty years ago Bill was writing angry memos about the rise of Linux and how Microsoft had to stop free software.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#159

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

Actually, as a long time Linux Desktop user, i have at least 4, refurbished bought Notebooks in my place yet. Beside the 4, another 3 new new bought Notebooks.

The reason why I buy refurbished is, that my use-cases don't need the newest hardware and for a long time, older hardware was more compatible with Linux and BSD for me. Also, you get for a small price, high quality hardware.

If you now ask yourself, why that many notebooks? Notebooks are like handbags. They have to match the occasion.

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