https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/north-america/#monthly-200901-202607

https://radar.cloudflare.com/explorer?dataSet=http&groupBy=os&dt=28d&loc=north-america&filters=deviceType%253DDESKTOP

Cloudflare stats also seem to support peaks of 15% usage but around 9-10% on average. In the United States alone, the market share for Linux is nearly 12% now for the whole month and Cloudflare stats suggest peaks of up to 25% (!) Linux desktop usage on certain days and times.

The trendline suggests this is just the start. When will companies realize they cannot ignore Linux anymore?

  • MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    7·
    6 days ago

    I got another email from MS recently saying: “We understand that moving to a new PC can take time. As part of our ongoing commitment to helping customers stay secure during the transition, the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) programme for personal devices is being provided an additional year.”

    Oh do fuck off. I don’t need a new computer, and I certainly don’t need YOU.

    • Kjell@lemmy.world
      7·
      7 days ago

      So far it looks like it’s only one month on the chart with 10% for Linux, it could be a fluke. We’ll find out if it remains around 10% in the coming months.

      • Kangae_Hishiryo@scribe.disroot.org
        8·
        7 days ago

        Yeah, but what I mean is that even if it’s just a fluke, it’s still good that more of the “normie” desktop users are at least showing a bit of interest in it, even if they at the very end bounce back, the fact that they are showing signs of being tired of the dominant OS and willing to experiment is refreshing. I think that, for the sake of the Libre philosophy, FLOSS devs should try better to attract them more.

        • Dymonika@lemmy.one
          2·
          6 days ago

          That means they could make fancy comparison trailers showcasing the slickest parts of Linux versus when other OSs try to do the same lol.

    • marcie (she/her)@lemmy.mlOP
      1·
      6 days ago

      Ignoring that the default browsers on many distros are seen as bot traffic, filtering the alleged bot traffic on Linux still results in around 7% of overall traffic, up from 4ish a year ago. It also doesn’t explain the giant leaps in downloads on many distros that correlate with the spike. It’s possible some organization set up a ton of computers with openclaw and a wide variety of distros on it I guess to influence opinion 🤷‍♀️

      Also extremely biased source

  • ian@feddit.ukEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    Look out for any Linux dip in figures, as some people give up trying to use Linux, and move away again. If they hit a tricky problem, and go online for help, some will just scare them away with an over techy response. And they will share their horror story, keeping more people away from Linux.

  • UnLocoPoco@lemmy.world
    8·
    7 days ago

    Also, notice one thing…along with windows, MacOS also lost share during the same time. People are fed up with Apple too!

  • Bluewing@lemmy.world
    9·
    7 days ago

    It’s still going to be decades before Windows and iOS feel the pinch. This is a war of attririon. There is no quick victory here.

    • VanRado@lemmy.world
      1·
      6 days ago

      I have no idea what impact Valve has had, but SteamOS is indeed Arch Linux with Valve’s kernel, KDE Plasma desktop and a separate Gamescope session running a big picture mode like environment.

    • Kefla [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      1·
      6 days ago

      Probably not significantly? The Steam machine wasn’t very popular afaik, it’s a really bad time to be a company selling prebuilt PCs because pc part prices are insane right now.

      But yes everything Valve does these days is Linux based. Their work on wine/Proton (which they did largely for steam deck support) is probably the biggest factor in people swapping over.

      • Coke@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        6 days ago

        steam machine actually sold well. it’s on a waitlist now because of volume of sales despite the high price. i know on reddit there was a big storm about the price, but in the general population people i talked to were really excited about buying a steam machine. a lot of it is more about buying a luxury item, like how people want the latest iphone always when they’re expensive and androids are better. valve has that brand name and loyalty.

  • communism@lemmy.ml
    96·
    8 days ago

    As an OpenBSD user I find it funny how they list OpenBSD as 0%. Like, they could’ve just omitted it.

    • Mucki@feddit.org
      21·
      8 days ago

      Thought the same. I think it’s a pun. Could become a meme even. Just put “OpenBSD 0%” in any statistics report.

      • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        7 days ago

        BSD is interesting. So it’s always worth giving it a try. It certainly won’t be as comfortable or convenient as Linux though. So exploring it on a side machine (or a secondary partition) is probably better.

      • communism@lemmy.ml
        8·
        7 days ago

        I didn’t—I like to pick up old second-hand laptops that are selling for cheap and tinker with them (install different OSes, coreboot them, etc). One of the machines I regularly use is OpenBSD, but it’s not my sole OS. My gaming machine is Linux—afaik you’re gonna have a tough time trying to play AAA games on any other (FOSS) OS, but I’ve not tried, because the laptop I run OpenBSD on is an old underpowered Thinkpad anyway.

        I picked OpenBSD over other non-Linuxes because of its focus on security. Also I think the pufferfish is cute. It wasn’t that deep of a decision for that particular laptop. I do find it quite an enjoyable OS to use, and I have anecdotally had fewer problems with it than with Linuxes, I suspect because their whole security focus also means fewer bugs.

      • communism@lemmy.ml
        3·
        7 days ago

        Copying from a reply to another comment:

        I picked OpenBSD over other non-Linuxes because of its focus on security. Also I think the pufferfish is cute. It wasn’t that deep of a decision for that particular laptop. I do find it quite an enjoyable OS to use, and I have anecdotally had fewer problems with it than with Linuxes, I suspect because their whole security focus also means fewer bugs.

        If you’re interested in it, just try it out in a VM.