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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

#361

Post by dartharva »

palata wrote: post #91
nerdjon wrote: 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…

I agree with your points, except this: > thanks to the Steam Deck [...] but I would be reluctant to call that Linux Desktop anymore than I would call Android an uptick for Linux. The Steam Deck very much runs Linux Desktop. Android runs the Linux kernel, but everything else is different. SteamOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch. If you run your Steam Deck in "desktop mode", it is very much a Linux Desktop (with…

What even is "Linux Desktop" and why does Android not qualify as one? Many Android tablets (especially those with Samsung Dex) can certainly double up as desktops if its users were so willing, at least a lot more so than the Steam Deck.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#362

Post by tgeorge »

theanonymousone wrote: post #15

I can't think of any logical reason to exclude ChromeOS and count it separately,and a good portion of the "Unknown" category may as well be Linux. The "real" number shouldn't be far from 10%, if not already exceeding it.

I think the Unknown category could be custom standalone devices like Playstation, FireTV, webOS, and Switch which have browsers to make those stats but could be BSD based. And, I wouldn't exclude ChromeOS also, I thought it's built off of Gentoo Linux.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#364

Post by threetonesun »

alias_neo wrote: post #175
WJW wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal evidence, but Steams' Proton compatibility layer that lets you run Windows-only games on Linux works really really well. I haven't had to log into years and years by now.

I've been gaming on Linux for about a decade now full time, and somewhat before that too. I don't have a single Windows machine any more. My laptops are running Arch, my wife's personal Laptop runs Mint, her work machine is Windows because it has to, my work machine is Ubuntu, and my 5yo plays Minecraft on an Arch + Gnome laptop. 7-8 years ago it was pretty frustrating to spend £4k+ on a gaming rig to be unable to pl…

I'm mostly a Mac user but I tested Windows 11 versus Bazzite in VMs in my Unraid server, and the Windows 11 install was a nightmare to then be left with a nightmare UI and a bundle of GPU driver issues, meanwhile Bazzite took two clicks and worked.

Obviously there are very cutting edge drivers you can't get on Linux, and Nvidia support is questionable, and some anti-cheat doesn't work, etc, but if you mostly play games released in [current year - a few] on hardware released [current year - a few] it's really a much more enjoyable experience.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#365

Post by jandrese »

WJW wrote: post #28
whizzter wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this plays a huge part, is it elders/poorer/others that receive these machines? A new machine for an enterprise or gamer will probably retain windows because it's needed but people not using their computers for more than surfing will be happy enough. On that side-note I would also not be surprised if people are leaving "computers" altogether in favor of phones, it's a capable enough computer today for most la…

Anecdotal evidence, but Steams' Proton compatibility layer that lets you run Windows-only games on Linux works really really well. I haven't had to log into years and years by now.

For me Proton works sometimes, but I've had much more success with the third party Glorious Eggroll versions that include the Microsoft Codecs used by many games for in-game video.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#366

Post by jauntywundrkind »

jraph wrote: post #274
fsflover wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://github.com/termux-play-store/

What's your point? This mess is caused by Google policies, not technical considerations. You can still install Termux from F-Droid. We can argue about Android being a horrible OS for all sorts of reasons but that's a separate discussion.

> Almost every Android version imposes new major restrictions when it comes to security requirements, and specifically the Android 10 version update was dramatic for Termux usage, as it disallowed executing downloaded files directly.

> The Termux app avoided that by using a targetSdkVersion of Android 9, declaring that it was not compatible with the Android 10 requirements.

Android level 9 is from Android 2 Gingerbread (2010!!). https://apilevels.com/

For now it's not a huge barrier to Termux running. We can go run Android 2 stuff today, & maybe Android will forever be backwards compatible.

It does mean that Termux can't build a top or use any new Android features. Termux is glued to a truly ancient version of Android, because Android became inhospitable to basic Linux userland use cases. Seems its mostly about being unable to run downloaded code, which feels admittedly like very much "just a technicality", but boy oh boy has that technicality kept Android from expanding outside of its own bespoke userland.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#368

Post by zokier »

827a wrote: post #250
zokier wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bingo. Cloudflare has also OS stats available and I'd imagine they are far more reliable. Some silver lining of them having such wide dragnet on the web. They report 4.4% Linux desktop marketshare in the US. Tbh I believe the summer vacation season probably influences the numbers here, but there is some real growth too. https://radar.cloudflare.com/explorer?dataSet=http&groupBy=o...

1. Radar is also reporting a Linux increase over the past month: 3.3% to 4.4%. 2. Both StatsCounter and Radar break out Linux and ChromeOS; if you combine them, StatsCounter hits 7.7%; Radar hits 6.3%. 3. That being said: Both StatsCounter and Radar experienced an anomalous drop in ChromeOS clients & rise in Linux clients over the past month. StatsCounter took ChromeOS from ~4.4% to 2.7%. Radar took it 2.6% -> 1.9%.…

ChromeOS drop is pretty easily explained by it being predominantly used in education and schools being closed for summer. And that drop muddies all other numbers, because of course the percentages of others go up when one goes down. In summary, I'd wait until November (or at least October) before making any broad conclusions.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#369

Post by Our_Benefactors »

happymellon wrote: post #324
paulcole wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your belief is that Steam Deck is Linux Desktop then you need to count Switch/PS5/Xbox as desktops as well and take those into account with the OS percentages.

By picking a standard menu option I can go to a traditional desktop and use Libre Office and Firefox. Can I so that with a Switch? I can plug in a USB dock, with a monitor, mouse and keyboard and edit images with GIMP. Can I do that with a PS5? If I like the Steam Deck UI, I can install a package on my desktop and pick it on login, thus gaining basically all of this functionality. I in fact do have the SteamOS 3 UI i…

> Can I do that with a Switch?

You can install Ubuntu on a Nintendo switch by using a paperclip so yes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/comments/8f0ugz/hardwar...

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#370

Post by esseph »

dmd wrote: post #214
adamc wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Must be circles. I just visited relatives, and brought my laptop as well as my phone; I barely used the laptop. But my brother always uses his, and his kids used laptops, and even one of my great nieces used a laptop. Did they have phones? Yes. Games isn't the only driver. It's hard to do things like write papers on phones.

Nearly everyone in our family’s (public, Massachusetts) high school writes papers exclusively on their phone.

In highschool classes forever ago we had to write 20+ page papers. I can't imagine trying to do that on a phone!
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