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Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

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Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#71

Post by cassianoleal »

jakogut wrote: post #42
the_snooze wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finally made the switch earlier this year after realizing just how good Steam Proton is for gaming on Linux. Day-to-day computing on Linux is just so nice compared to Windows. It doesn't feel like I'm fighting with the OS anymore; the machine actually serves me now, instead of it constantly trying to undermine my intentions.

I grew up gaming on PCs. I still game regularly, and haven't used Windows for around ten years. Anybody that wants to explore alternatives to Microsoft has every reason to do so, the software works about as well or better than running natively on Windows.

For $reasons my son has been gaming on my PC for the last month or so. First on Debian, now on Bazzite (I installed it out of curiosity, will probably revert back to Debian as I saw no advantage).

Last night he wanted to play a game that doesn't run on Linux because of its anti-cheat. I have a Windows 10 partition that hasn't been booted on for months. He went on it and that's when it really hit him how bad and user hostile Windows is. He always knew but it was only after being on Linux full-time for a few weeks and then trying to go back that he actually understood.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#72

Post by surgical_fire »

vlovich123 wrote: post #21

Desktop and laptop sales have been declining worldwide for years and while laptops have dipped up in 2023 desktops continued their downward trend. My hunch it’s less that people have suddenly discovered Linux and more that desktop sales have been slipping for a long long time so either it’s shifted to Apple or people stick with just phones and tablets. Thus it’s not necessarily that Linux market share has increased b…

Unless I misunderstood something, the graphic shown on the article does not imply that. Linux market share grew from a decline from OSX and ChromeOS, while Windows share is more or less stable.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#73

Post by surgical_fire »

pessimizer wrote: post #61
vlovich123 wrote: post #21

Desktop and laptop sales have been declining worldwide for years and while laptops have dipped up in 2023 desktops continued their downward trend. My hunch it’s less that people have suddenly discovered Linux and more that desktop sales have been slipping for a long long time so either it’s shifted to Apple or people stick with just phones and tablets. Thus it’s not necessarily that Linux market share has increased b…

Desktop and laptop sales are declining, but that's probably because they're all fast enough now and there's no reason to replace them unless they break. That's actually more room for Linux, because the big two OSes are gradually going to leave those people behind. Most people are going to have fairly new phones in their pockets and super-old laptops at home. Anecdotally I've been getting a lot of calls from normies a…

> Desktop and laptop sales are declining, but that's probably because they're all fast enough now and there's no reason to replace them unless they break.

This, and a lot of people got new desktops/laptops during the pandemic.

I actually got my laptop in late 2019, and it is still running smoothly. Back in thr day a 5 year old laptop would be ancient. Now it still runs fine everything I want on it.

I also think current hardware is lasting for a longer time than before. I remember I used to have a lot more issues with faulty components after a few years of use, etc.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#74

Post by pjmlp »

littlestymaar wrote: post #70
pjmlp wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course I am restricting it to native Linux games, the others are Windows games, developed and sold for Windows customers, that happen to be running on Linux thanks to Proton. One could be running a VM of some sort for exactly the same purpose. To the point that studios with Android NDK versions don't even bother to have them on GNU/Linux.

> Of course I am restricting it to native Linux games, And of course that's completely arbitrary. > the others are Windows games, developed and sold for Windows customers, that happen to be running on Linux thanks to Proton. And so what? > One could be running a VM of some sort for exactly the same purpose. Except it keeps you monitored by Microsoft abusive telemetry, need much more RAM than what you'd normally need,…

> And of course that's completely arbitrary.

Not at all, in the context of gaming on Platform X, the games made for Platform X matter, it is irrelevant how many games from Platform Y, Platform W, Platform Whatever, Platform X can emulatate/translate, those games were not designed, or developed with Platform X in mind to start with.

> Games developed for Android are made for touchscreens, so it's not like porting is easy.

Many also support gamepads, something that after 30 years should work mostly on GNU/Linux, assuming one gets the right brands to start with.

> MacOS still isn't a serious gaming platform despite its huge market share compared to Linux, it's ridiculous to expect Linux to ever become one with native Linux games.

What Apple cares about is iDevices gaming, there is enough money to be done there, at the same level as Playstation/XBox/Switch.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#75

Post by masfoobar »

If linux hits 5% this would be huge news and something Microsoft should be taking note.

Reminds me of an old Red Hat advert likely from the late 90s, based on the following quote (I cannot remember who said this.. gandhi???) :-

- First they ignore you - Then they laugh at you - Then they fight you - Then you win

At the end of the advert it said something like "You are here" which shows an aeroplane about to take off... just a matter of time before it leaves the ground. Its kinda symbolic to tell you its just a matter of time.

Of course, things have changed since this advert as the last 10 years Microsoft have been open towards Linux. While they are contributors, I still have doubts of their intentions. Personally, I view Microsofts strategy to control the GNU/Linux ecosystem not by the OS but their software. If they manage to win Linux distributions to use their tools by default (MS SQL Server, .NET, Powershell, etc) - would give them a lot of control!

Of course, linux admins might laugh at that idea... use Powershell? Please! -- But microsoft have some great influence due to their money and advertisement. Things could change drastically in the next 10-15 years.

Imagine big businesses using .NET or SQL Server and start to use Linux over Windows. Big businesses will happily throw support money. Makes you wonder how distributions will alter their views in a few short years.

Despite all I covered, Microsofts decisions on Windows 11 is baffling. At the end of the day, I just want a vanilla install of Windows. If there is a peice of software or feature I want -- I will install it or turn it on myself. Windows is no longer viewed as an Operating system but a full on IoT Service.

It just moves more people over to GNU/Linux. I only have 1 laptop using Windows at home - and I only have it for a job. I leave this job soon and when I do, the first thing I am doing is wiping Windows 11 for Debian.

I have Steam... so as long as I can play my favourite games on Linux (which are not the latest games) I am good! Despite being a Linux user for many years, I am still behind on the gaming side.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#76

Post by littlestymaar »

pjmlp wrote: post #74
littlestymaar wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course I am restricting it to native Linux games, And of course that's completely arbitrary. > the others are Windows games, developed and sold for Windows customers, that happen to be running on Linux thanks to Proton. And so what? > One could be running a VM of some sort for exactly the same purpose. Except it keeps you monitored by Microsoft abusive telemetry, need much more RAM than what you'd normally need,…

> And of course that's completely arbitrary. Not at all, in the context of gaming on Platform X, the games made for Platform X matter, it is irrelevant how many games from Platform Y, Platform W, Platform Whatever, Platform X can emulatate/translate, those games were not designed, or developed with Platform X in mind to start with. > Games developed for Android are made for touchscreens, so it's not like porting is e…

> in the context of gaming on Platform X, the games made for Platform X matter, it is irrelevant how many games from Platform Y, Platform W, Platform Whatever, Platform X can emulatate/translate, those games were not designed, or developed with Platform X in mind to start with.

Irrelevant according to who? Do you even play games? Because gamers don't care at all, and that's why emulators are so popular and why they are chased by console vendors who want to maintain their exclusivity. In practice all that matters to gamers is whether or not a game is able to run properly on the device they already have, everything else is frivolous.

> What Apple cares about is iDevices gaming

And Linus Torvalds doesn't care about gaming on Linux at all, and neither do distro vendors, so what?

The only people who care about games running on Linux are Valve and gamers, and we're both really happy to see that we eventually have games on Linux. That it doesn't meet the bar for your own personal idea of what “games on Linux” means isn't blocking Valve's profit or players enjoyment of the current situation.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#77

Post by sergiotapia »

bydo wrote: post #54
sergiotapia wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm. I've been working with a VMWare Linux Mint machine for two years, and very recently installed Windows 11, and decided to try WSL2. It's seamless, and literally Linux. I installed asdf and all the stuff I would normally do with zero headaches. No more vms for me.

WSL2 is literally a VM.

yes but it's not a "VMWare" window and completely separate desktop environment. come on.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#79

Post by Gigachad »

mostlyRice wrote: post #37

Maybe this 4.5% is just the technical crowd? Now that windows UX is getting shittier, if there's a linux distro usuable without ever pulling up a terminal, maybe linux has some chance with non technical people.

The steam deck is a fully consumer friendly Linux device that fits that criteria.

Re: Linux market share approaching 4.5% for first time, could hit 5% by 1Q25

#80

Post by monkeyfun »

pessimizer wrote: post #61
vlovich123 wrote: post #21

Desktop and laptop sales have been declining worldwide for years and while laptops have dipped up in 2023 desktops continued their downward trend. My hunch it’s less that people have suddenly discovered Linux and more that desktop sales have been slipping for a long long time so either it’s shifted to Apple or people stick with just phones and tablets. Thus it’s not necessarily that Linux market share has increased b…

Desktop and laptop sales are declining, but that's probably because they're all fast enough now and there's no reason to replace them unless they break. That's actually more room for Linux, because the big two OSes are gradually going to leave those people behind. Most people are going to have fairly new phones in their pockets and super-old laptops at home. Anecdotally I've been getting a lot of calls from normies a…

Another thought, though I'll fully disclaim I didn't look into data on sales:

What's being counted as desktop sales?

Because I would suspect that more gamers and hobbyists than ever are simply putting together mid and high-end PCs themselves out of parts, rather than buying prebuilt.

It's been made trivially easy even for the totally inexperienced and uninformed by simply copying popular youtube guides, and I suspect the pandemic chip shortage price hikes greatly increased consciousness about prices even after it muchly recovered.

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