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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

#591

Post by 3abiton »

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 did something similar back in the before times, an initiative that takes donated devices and give them a second life to people who need it. We had major resistance back then to anything linux.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#592

Post by jorvi »

bigyabai wrote: post #528
jorvi wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't. Or not in the sense that it matters for traditional Linux desktop users, which is pretty much the only reason the metric gets brought up. Following your logic, people using the old TiVo setop boxes were also Linux users. Active Linux desktop adoption rates matter because it means companies will put money into ensuring their product works well on it. 1Password or Telegram is not going to meaningfully care…

It really doesn't matter, you're again conflating the "kernel" and "desktop" distinction that's important here. It's like saying that XNU isn't being used by gamers - in practice you're correct, but the kernel is used to run millions of iPhone games. It doesn't matter for the adoption of macOS as a gaming platform, but the kernel is used for it. What matters, to me as a Linux user on the desktop, is that Nintendo and…

> It really doesn't matter, you're again conflating the "kernel" and "desktop" distinction that's important here

Right, under a post that says "Linux reaches 5% desktop market share".

to which I will just point to my earlier remark: bringing up that stat only matters if you actually use desktop Linux and want the marketshare to increase so Photoshop or Affinity Photo will be released and supported on Linux.

Steam Deck users spend the overwhelming majority of time in Game Mode / Big Picture. They care not for the Linux desktop experience, for they don't actively use it. If they don't actively use it, companies won't care about improving it.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#593

Post by LoveMortuus »

palata wrote: post #579
jorvi wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are being obtuse. 99% of Steam Deck users won't ever use the desktop mode except for maybe setting up emulation or Discord. In general, that makes Steam Deck users no more Linux users than people that use Android.

Where does that 99% number come from? The very reason why I bought a Steam Deck is because it is both a handheld and a Linux Desktop.

While I don't have data to support the number, I would say that it's a pretty safe bet to say that majority of Steam Deck owners do not use the desktop mode on regular basis, they might check out what it is, but the majority probably stays in the game mode.

Regarding your point, do realise that just by being a NH reader, you're in the 1%, not to mention all the other delineations that are commonly attributed to the HN crowd.

We are not the majority.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#594

Post by resource_waste »

Gormo wrote: post #371
resource_waste wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, give…

I'm going to take a guess and say you don't use linux as your daily desktop.

As mentioned, you 'see' but you havent lived it. You hear about it, but you are viewing it at 10,000 ft, rather than in a home.

Just because there was a 2025 Ubuntu release, doesnt mean the Kernel is updated. Its literally years outdated.

And 'time in terminal' is a great metric. People want to be using their computer, they don't want to be installing things or making modifications. If you prefer you could do 'time in terminal + time fixing things with GUI' and the result would be the same. Fedora just works. Ubuntu and family require fixing.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#595

Post by akho »

Gormo wrote: post #153
Workaccount2 wrote: post #100

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…

Macs use Cmd to segregate the worlds. I think that’s neat, and if I were making a Linux computer, I’d think about making Win+XCV system-level copy-paste.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#596

Post by 1718627440 »

paulddraper wrote: post #541
kube-system wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Steam Deck very much runs Linux Desktop. Android runs the Linux kernel, but everything else is different. Linux is a kernel.

So anyone saying "the Windows operating system" is doing wrong?

Windows is/was actually a classification of a graphical OS based on a windows-metaphor. What you are talking about is probably MS Windows.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#597

Post by akho »

resource_waste wrote: post #594
Gormo wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, give…

I'm going to take a guess and say you don't use linux as your daily desktop. As mentioned, you 'see' but you havent lived it. You hear about it, but you are viewing it at 10,000 ft, rather than in a home. Just because there was a 2025 Ubuntu release, doesnt mean the Kernel is updated. Its literally years outdated. And 'time in terminal' is a great metric. People want to be using their computer, they don't want to be…

Fedora 42 and Ubuntu 25.04 both use 6.14 kernel.

While I agree with your conclusions, I feel that your deduction may be faulty.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#598

Post by nerdjon »

throwawaylaptop wrote: post #590
pms wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If an OS is used, then that's because people need it, not because they're fighting some imaginary fight in the jungle. It's their preferred OS. If the number of people using computers shrinks, because non-pro users move to mobiles, while the fraction of pros using Linux increases to 95%, or even 50%, I think that's a very clear win for Linux. The reason why MacOS grew in popularity is because it started to be used by…

It was just an analogy. My point is still that if you get 1 million nerds using Linux in 2006, and even if they remain 1 million as the whole market dies in 2028, that doesn't say much more about Linux than it did in 2006 when only 1% of desktop users used it. On a side note, I'm no computer scientist (I don't even know what that means, and I'm from the SF bay area), but I used MS products since 1989. A friend gifted…

> It was just an analogy. My point is still that if you get 1 million nerds using Linux in 2006, and even if they remain 1 million as the whole market dies in 2028, that doesn't say much more about Linux than it did in 2006 when only 1% of desktop users used it.

Exactly this is the point I was trying to make.

If the percent goes up but the actual number of Linux machines stays the same that really isnt saying much about Linux it self. If that were the case there was no shift or growth.

Or it is possible that it is both of these which means maybe there was a growth and shift but not at as big of a number as the percent may imply.

5% of 2 million and 10% of 1 million are both 100,000.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#599

Post by dartharva »

rstuart4133 wrote: post #537
dartharva wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> What even is "Linux Desktop" and why does Android not qualify as one? A desktop is a computer that sits on your desk, as opposed to being held in your hand. In concrete terms, you can install Android Firefox on ChromeOS, and it runs fine. But it is near unusable because it turns out how people interact with desktops is very different to how people interact with phones. Also, desktop window managers tend to look lik…

Sounds like a ton of arbitrary gatekeeping. If it is a computer I can use on my desk, it is a desktop to me. Why should a user bother about what window manager or whatever is being used when he gets to use the computer as he wants? I still fail to see why Android can't be counted as among those plug-and-play immutable Linux distros.

Re: Linux Reaches 5% Desktop Market Share in USA

#600

Post by HKH2 »

Zambyte wrote: post #495
samrus wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the time and effort it takes to maintian a project.

The vast majority of people can just benefit from the time and effort that someone felt was worth spending to scratch their own itch.

You're drifting from your original argument. Taking away features usually does make it harder for power users.
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