What a joke.
“…it is rapidly gaining momentum as an operating system of choice for many desktop users”
30 years and flat at 3%. “Rapidly”
While I am currently using a PC with Windows 10 Pro, the last two computers I installed an operating system on have Linux. When Windows 10 Pro is no longer supported in late 2025, that will be my last Windows PC. I figure to be using Linux for everyday use well before then.
Apple Mac had sunk to about 2% in the mid ‘90s, after the failed Mac laptop (lead batteries, no backlighting), failed Newton, failed GX, dead-end 680x0 processors, the ridiculous Centrum line, the release of Windows 95, etc. It came back over time with healthy high single digits, not counting iOS and iPad OS.
Desktop Linux going from under 1% to 3% IS a healthy jump, and that is despite having almost no presence in the phone
or laptop market, even as laptops have become the main “desktop” in much of corporate America, and moreso since COVID.
It has been a long climb, but because Linux’ presence is HUGE in Internet server market, is not processor centric, and is explicitly based on UNIX, the root system is EXTREMELY strong.
For us Freepers, it is relevant as software that allows endless variation and MUCH less privacy intrusion than Microsoft and Google (Chrome OS/Android), and the “updates” are not mandatory, and neither are hardware upgrades.
Yeah a slow climb to 3% on the desktop, in addition to half of the server world, is a big deal. I am typing this on my well-provisioned Ubuntu desktop, which does 80% of what I need.
Android OS on your non-Apple phones is derived from Linux.
Apple phone iOS is derived from BSD unix.
If Raspberry Pi is recognized as a desktop, the percentage could potentially increase. I currently have one placed on my desk.
Queue the condescending Windoze users that enjoy paying exorbitant annual usage fees, punishing upgrade fees, and crappy customer service.
When you go for help on the support sites, you get gang-banged. They aren’t there to help. They are there to ridicule.
Linux is great for servers in a data center. Its not a home computer type of os though.
I certainly look forward to something that replaces Windows with localized computer storage.
Windows generally insists on wasting half an hour of my time whenever it connects to the Internet.
Will I be buying a new Windows machine? No.
I’m using a Chromebook which surfs nicely but uses remote storage of documents which causes delays of seconds.
My neighbor gave me his old Mac which if I spent the time to learn how to use it might be the most suitable.
Will linux run office 365?
I try Linux every 5 years or so. Consistently it has two problems:
1. If you don’t use it for a while, it magically stops working correctly and displays some error that leads to a rabbit hole of web searches. Every fix requires some other pre-requisite, which requires some other pre-requisite.
2. Video driver compatibility was still a problem last I tried it a few years ago. It doesn’t matter how common your graphics card is. It doesn’t have to be the newest or oldest to have problems.
Well, whuptyF*inDoo.
I’ve got two Linux systems operating on dual boot PC’s. Hardly ever use ‘cause it is so damn difficult to add proggies and update.
Linux coders are like customer service in any IT shop — “You will take what I give you and like it.” No empathy.
Apple’s IOS and OSX are Linux (the term in vogue now is “UNIX-like”), and Google’s Android is Linux.
Your Smart TV and Smart thermostat and Smart vacuum cleaner all run Linux.
Linux might only be 3% of the desktop market but the desktop market has been in decline since 2012. Linux has a virtual monopoly on the digital handhelds market and is, point of fact, the the most popular operating system in existence.
courses for horses
You can make a Unix-style operating system easy/pretty and it will be adopted by the (desktop) market - they're called Macs. For folks who can use and appreciate what Unix has to offer, without the insane encumberances and license fees, there's likely a version of Linux that works for their circumstances. Personally, I've been on Ubuntu (for desktop) since Apple announced that future Macs would use their chips (M1) rather than Intel's, so circa 2017 or so. None of the folks I work with can tell (and even if they could, wouldn't care).
Maybe so but they fill about 30% of the posts on threads about how to fix an issue with Windows.