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Update: 04/01/17 21:55 UTC
Doesn't really warrant a new article, but some trending graphs are now available.

New links on the page "Sections: Monthly | Trends" to switch between them.

Not all questions are included, as tweaks need to be done for each one of them to have it automated properly.

This is using the new Chart.js library.

Original article
It's always interesting to see what Linux gamers are running on their main gaming computers, so it's fun to see our statistics grow each month. The latest data is now available.

You can view the statistics at any time here.

If you want to be included, you need to fill out the "PC Info" section of your "User CP".

Quick thoughts
We have nearly a thousand people who have answered the question about their main gamepad, and it's clear that the Steam Controller is an absolute winner for Linux gamers. I'm not surprised, as I personally think it's mostly brilliant with a few edge cases in certain games.

The vast majority of people with an AMD GPU are using the open source driver, which isn't surprising. Considering how far Mesa has come in the past year, it's only going to increase the use of the open source driver.

It's also not really surprising that nearly everyone is using the closed source driver for their NVIDIA GPU. The open source driver doesn't really work for newer cards and will be a long time before it performs well with them.

The chart I am really going to be keeping an eye on over the next year or two, is what vendor people choose for their graphics card. Currently 74% of people use an NVIDIA GPU, but with Mesa coming along and new AMD cards on the horizon, it could change in AMD's favour.

Same for the CPU vendor chart, as I imagine Ryzen will shake things up rather nicely.

Updates
I have changed the charts to be based on percentage, rather than the number of responses. Everything now fits correctly, which looks a lot better. If you hover over a bar, it will tell you the exact amount of responses for that question. You can also hit the "Click for full statistics" to get the full information.

As requested, Deepin Desktop Environment is now an option and I will look to add others as requested. If you have requests for distributions and desktop environments to be added let me know in the comments.

Distributions take longer to put in, as I need an icon created for each of them. What I may look to do is just add-in a fallback Tux icon for distributions where we don't have a unique icon, so that I can add them as and when I get the icons.

I think the next thing I will work on is charts showing the difference over time, as it was requested and it would be interesting to see. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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31 comments
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Philadelphus Jan 4, 2017
Those two graphs are quite different. All graphs show a max of 10 items.
I'm just wondering if that's intentional, or a limitation of whatever code you're using to generate them.

All graphs allow you to view the full statistics of each in the dropdown below them.
Thanks, I didn't know that.
Liam Dawe Jan 4, 2017
Those two graphs are quite different. All graphs show a max of 10 items.
I'm just wondering if that's intentional, or a limitation of whatever code you're using to generate them.
The current graph lib is rather limited in what it can do, which is one of the many reasons I am moving to a fancy JS lib called "chart.js".

All graphs allow you to view the full statistics of each in the dropdown below them.
Thanks, I didn't know that.
If you have ideas on how I can make that bit stand out more without getting in the way, be sure to let me know.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 4 January 2017 at 8:22 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Jan 4, 2017
Doesn't really warrant a new article, but some trending graphs are now available.

New links on the page "Sections: Monthly | Trends" to switch between them.

Not all questions are included, as tweaks need to be done for each one of them to have it automated properly.

This is using the new Chart.js library.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 4 January 2017 at 10:01 pm UTC
rambo1462 Jan 4, 2017
i see 32-bit went from 2 to 4.
nice to know I am 25% of the 32-bit community
Eike Jan 5, 2017
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i see 32-bit went from 2 to 4.
nice to know I am 25% of the 32-bit community

Ha! One of the 32 bit desperados! May I ask why you are using this?
Philadelphus Jan 5, 2017
The current graph lib is rather limited in what it can do, which is one of the many reasons I am moving to a fancy JS lib called "chart.js".
Gotcha, thanks. The new charts look pretty cool! One tiny suggestion would be maybe to make the connecting lines ever-so-slightly thicker? Some of the colors are pretty light, and combined with thin lines they're a little hard to make out.
ShabbyX Jan 7, 2017
Have you noticed the "GPU Driver (AMD)" trend graph has over 105% as the sum of free and proprietary drivers for Jan 2017? That graph generally looks weird: the free driver is on a smooth rise, but the proprietary goes up and down... shouldn't they be complementary?
Eike Jan 7, 2017
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Have you noticed the "GPU Driver (AMD)" trend graph has over 105% as the sum of free and proprietary drivers for Jan 2017? That graph generally looks weird: the free driver is on a smooth rise, but the proprietary goes up and down... shouldn't they be complementary?

You're right, there's something wrong in the trend statistics.
Liam Dawe Jan 7, 2017
Have you noticed the "GPU Driver (AMD)" trend graph has over 105% as the sum of free and proprietary drivers for Jan 2017? That graph generally looks weird: the free driver is on a smooth rise, but the proprietary goes up and down... shouldn't they be complementary?

You're right, there's something wrong in the trend statistics.
Yeah, will look into those during the week and get them sorted. Probably a minor bug somewhere.
rambo1462 Jan 7, 2017
i see 32-bit went from 2 to 4.
nice to know I am 25% of the 32-bit community

Ha! One of the 32 bit desperados! May I ask why you are using this?

I dont know
Liam Dawe Jan 8, 2017
Have you noticed the "GPU Driver (AMD)" trend graph has over 105% as the sum of free and proprietary drivers for Jan 2017? That graph generally looks weird: the free driver is on a smooth rise, but the proprietary goes up and down... shouldn't they be complementary?

You're right, there's something wrong in the trend statistics.
This is now fixed BTW, the dates somehow on only that one got mixed up, so I fixed it.
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