this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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The Linux operating system has reached a notable milestone in desktop market share, according to the latest data from StatCounter. As of July 2024, Linux has achieved a 4.45% market share for desktop operating systems worldwide.

While this percentage might seem small to those unfamiliar with the operating system landscape, it represents a significant milestone for Linux and its dedicated community. What makes this achievement even more thrilling is the upward trajectory of Linux's adoption rate.

...

According to the statistics from the past ten years, It took eight years for Linux to go from a 1% to 2% market share (April 2021), 2.2 years to climb from 2% to 3% (June 2023), and a mere 0.7 years to reach 4% from 3% (February 2024). This exponential growth pattern suggests that 2024 might be the year Linux reaches a 5% market share.

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[–] suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml 71 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Special thanks to Microsoft for going out of their way to help make this possible

[–] FreudianCafe@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 months ago

Ive been saying that Microsoft is becoming one of the greatest supporters of linux. Really cant think of another company that made so many ppl use linux

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Did you finally buy the milk?

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Going back out to see if they restocked.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

No. That's not true. That's impossible!

[–] eth0slash0@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] PseudoSpock@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago

feelings.exe not found

[–] GravelPieceOfSword@lemmy.ca 23 points 2 months ago

It is finally upon us.

THE YEAR OF THE LINUX DESKTOP!

Terms and conditions apply. It could be the next year, or the year after, or not at all.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 2 months ago

As windows sucks more, Linux gets easier, and gaming gets way easier, this trend won't stop any time soon, but I am curious about how big a chunk of that percentage is steam OS/steam decks.

[–] nkat2112@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago
[–] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Are we actually converting people or is the desktop platform just less popular for other OSs in favor of phones etc?

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 18 points 2 months ago

That's already been happening for the last 15+ years, but Linux growth is primarily in the last 3. People are definitely moving to mobile, but the ones on desktop seem to be preferring Linux more than they did even 5-10 years ago (Note that laptops are included in "desktop" here).

[–] yggstyle@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

People are converting. Not entirely on its own merit, of course: Its competition repeatedly is enshitifying the user experience and pushing people to try other options. Combine that with steam and their work on linux's compatibility layer and you get most of the movement.

That said once you hit a certain market share developers become more willing to port or provide binaries for the growing platform. It can accelerate further from there. Linux mainstream isn't there yet but it's starting to get in striking distance of its competition.

[–] HouseWolf@lemm.ee 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I hate to say it but having a full desktop is becoming more and more of an enthusiast setup.

Even laptops are becoming somewhat niche as people more just use their phone for all web browsing.

[–] kionite231@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago

They don't even do web browsing they just download the dedicated app like Facebook or Instagram

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago
[–] mindlight@lemm.ee 7 points 2 months ago

Did anybody bother to look at the numbers?

I checked the stats for the last 4 years here and it looks really strange. Statistics isn't my thing... But it looks like it's wise to be cautious and not to fully trust the numbers.

Around the beginning of last year there was a huge dip in the Windows market share that seemed to be correlating with a peek in "unknown". Windows then catched up in a somewhat erratic way.

Mac OS also shows a weird behavior. Starts at 16%, up to 21% and the down to 14% between October and November...

It's not likely that a huge number of people decided to buy a Mac and then trash it one month later. Same but opposite goes for the windows stats.

I think it looks like there is an uncertainty of more than the total market share Linux is shown to have..

Not saying that Linux isn't increasing on desktop market share. Just saying that numbers seen to have quite a bit error margin and to be cautious if referring to these numbers.

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago