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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

#371

Post by Gormo »

resource_waste wrote: post #334
Gormo wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fundamentally, Linux is Linux. Differences between distros are vastly overstated, and they mostly amount to different default selections and configurations of the same underlying components. Ultimately, anything that will run on one Linux distro will run on any other, with the only significant differences being on distros that run on unusual architectures or have made major changes to the kernel.

This is idealistic not realistic. With enough effort, this is true... but out of the box, you are going to have significantly more bugs and conflicts using outdated distros. I'd love to see a 'time in terminal' by distro. I imagine Fedora would be in the mere minutes per year, and Ubuntu in the hours per year.

What do you find "idealistic" about it? My intention was to explain reality as I see it.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "outdated distros". It should be implicit that I'm referring to the currently maintained versions of available distros, not deprecated versions.

And the "time in terminal" metric might not generally make sense, given the preference that many Linux users have for CLI/TUI tools over GUI ones, given the efficiency and consistency advantages of the former -- many people prefer to work in the terminal even where GUI tools for equivalent functionality are readily available.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#372

Post by kwanbix »

threetonesun wrote: post #364
alias_neo wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 gam…

I hate W11 to the point that I am still running W10 (IoT) on my machines (I also run Solus and Mint). That said, I have never experienced what you say in the first paragraph.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#374

Post by jabroni_salad »

scarface_74 wrote: post #327
jabroni_salad wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(US minnesota) recently a 23 year old new hire advised me that he doesn't have a normal computer or laptop and he buys plane tickets, files his taxes, plans projects etc on a phone or ipad. Thinking that some tasks are better suited to a desk / 2 monitors is apparently a millennial thing now .

I had my first personal computer in 1986. But I can easily do all of those things just as conveniently on my phone. 90% of tax payers claim the standard deduction. That means filing your taxes just means going to Turbo tax and it importing your W2’s automatically if your employer uses one of the major payment providers like ADP or worse case taking a picture of your W2, clicking “Next” a few times after answering a f…

Personally if I am going to spend more than $100 I am going to comparison shop and I like having multiple windows open to do it in.

Opening a specific airline's app and just getting whatever they have on offer is completely foreign to me. I would think I am getting cheated.

Also, federal taxes may be easy but the only way to free-file the state tax is to do it directly with the state and that means filling out a form myself.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#375

Post by [deleted] »

vkazanov wrote: post #300
palata wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, Desktop Linux is the Linux I run on my work computer: the one that has a screen, a keyboard and a mouse. It is based on Linux (obviously), the GNU userland to some extent, and then it has a graphical environment (usually based on Xorg or Wayland). This is different from embedded Linux or Linux on a server. And this is different from Linux-the-kernel (which runs on Android).

Well, you came up with a rather vague definition. Xorg OR wayland. Gtk or qt? Which set of tools do you expect to be available? All of that is just too nebulous. Linux is something that runs the kernel, that's about it. I mean, I've been using linux for all of my life, servers, at home, for work, embedded dev, corporate environment, as a manager and as a dev, etc. What I see is that linux as already everywhere. Deskt…

[deleted]

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#376

Post by jraph »

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #366
jraph wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Gingerbre…

> > 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/

Wait, no, Termux is not stuck at Gingerbread, it's stuck at Android 9 (Pie).

Agree with the rest though. Android is a sinking ship, not only the Termux issue, but the increasing number of basic apps and features that are proprietary and not part of AOSP. I hope we'll be able to be caught by Linux Mobile or something like this in time.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#377

Post by freehorse »

leereeves wrote: post #157
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…

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?

People do all kinds of crazy stuff with steam decks. I don't own one, but at least I give to steam that they created a general computing device that people can use however they please instead of yet another walled garden console. It would not surprise me if people actually also use them to browse the web.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#378

Post by sophacles »

palata wrote: post #285
vkazanov wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux is a kernel, that's it. There is an organisation maintaining it, and also the trademark. There is also a major family of OSes building on the kernel + gnu userspace, which you probably call "desktop linux". In my house there are dozens of devices running linux the kernel: routers, a tv set, washing machines, NAS, printers, etc. Some have the full gnu posix-like stack, others are very barebones. Then, there's is…

To me, Desktop Linux is the Linux I run on my work computer: the one that has a screen, a keyboard and a mouse. It is based on Linux (obviously), the GNU userland to some extent, and then it has a graphical environment (usually based on Xorg or Wayland). This is different from embedded Linux or Linux on a server. And this is different from Linux-the-kernel (which runs on Android).

What if I run linux + gnu + gnome over rdp on VM a server in a rack somewhere that has no screen keyboard and mouse on it? Am i using desktop linux or not?

What if that same VM also is running nginx and serving up web content?

What if I have a pc with a keyboard and monitor sitting literally on my desktop, and it's running linux + gnu but no graphical environment, and I use it for coding (it has music playing when I do this, and i sometime check email or github issues, etc via cli) - yes I've done this, even recently to reduce distractions... some days GUIs are bad for my adhd. Is that a desktop linux? If not, why? What's different about this than doing basically the same thing, but also having a browser open when it's surrounded by a GUI?

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#379

Post by FirmwareBurner »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #295
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you write long school papers on the phone's tiny screen and keyboard?

ChatGPT?

Good point. You don't even need to use the screen and keyboard for that, just voice prompts. Kids are already living in the future.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#380

Post by esseph »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #360
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 hear this all around and I am myself running GNU/Linux almost all the time, but running games on Steam on my default OS, which is a Debian with KDE currently, that is more miss than hit. I even know someone who has almost the same hardware, also runs a GNU/Linux system and for them almost all games work using Proton. For me however they don't. I already tried proprietary graphics card drivers instead of the ones th…

Debian is just not going to have access to as much up to date software as it probably needs, even with testing back ports, to run well. I say this as a very long time Debian user that is really struggling in this day and age to find a place for Debian among my devices at this point.
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