It appears that during the Coronavirus lock-down, the Linux market share according to website NetMarketShare has seen quite a large bump.
While calculating the market share of a desktop operating system is never going to be exactly correct, sites like NetMarketShare are one of the best ways to look at it. According to their stats the Linux share has bumped between around 1.5% and 2% for some time. That changed when they recently put up April's stats, which shows the Linux market overall according to them at 2.87%.
The biggest winner appears to be Ubuntu when looking over what Linux versions they track. Ubuntu alone seemed to go from 0.27% in March up to 1.89% in April.
What would be the cause of such a bump? Well, entirely possible it's due to more people using Linux personally at home where they would perhaps be using Windows workstations in their job. Really we could speculate forever on this - so over to you, what do you think?
Nothing to go popping open the champagne over though, while it's a big jump it would only truly be worth celebrating if it sustains the higher position. At least when looking over the Steam numbers too (see our Steam Tracker), we're trending upwards there.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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That's really good news! MacOS also rose by 1%, while Windows fell from 89% to 87%, showing a part of the degree to which corporate usage inflates it.
2 Likes, Who?
Using Linux at home during lock-down seems plausible. Combine that with a new long-term support release of Ubuntu in April 2020 (which happens only every two years). Makes it easier to choose.
3 Likes, Who?
Ubuntu gained 1.61 % (from 0.27 % to 1.88 %) of the whole market-share while Linux as a whole gained 1.51 % (from 1.36 % to 2.87 %) of the market-share.
So the whole gain is only Ubuntu (and other distros actually lost some share in Ubuntu’s favour).
Looks like some change of the method of classifying Ubuntu (1.5 % ‘stolen’ from what previously has been classified as Windows?) + some fluctuations between distributions (0.1 % of the whole gained by Ubuntu from other Linuxes).
Last edited by silmeth on 6 May 2020 at 12:28 pm UTC
So the whole gain is only Ubuntu (and other distros actually lost some share in Ubuntu’s favour).
Looks like some change of the method of classifying Ubuntu (1.5 % ‘stolen’ from what previously has been classified as Windows?) + some fluctuations between distributions (0.1 % of the whole gained by Ubuntu from other Linuxes).
Last edited by silmeth on 6 May 2020 at 12:28 pm UTC
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Cue Microsoft demanding that people go back to their offices. :P
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Numbers, numbers, numbers;
math, math, math.
We win!
In the world of Linux market share, any good news is still good news, so while I'm not breaking out the champagne, I will be just over here tossing back a few pints if anybody's interested.
math, math, math.
We win!
In the world of Linux market share, any good news is still good news, so while I'm not breaking out the champagne, I will be just over here tossing back a few pints if anybody's interested.
5 Likes, Who?
If you look at stackoverflow surveys, you can easily gather that there are a good deal of developers that prefer Linux, but have to use windows for work. Developers alone being at home and on their favorite os can probably explain this completely.
6 Likes, Who?
One factor could be people trying to install Zoom/Teams/whatever on Windows XP/Vista/Unpatched 7 and finding they have to replace it with something newer for their video conferencing tool to work. Ubuntu is the default for those users.
NetMarketShare's statistics don't support that though: Vista was flat, XP grew, Windows 7 lost 0.5%, Windows 8 lost 0.1%, Windows 8.1 lost 0.5% Windows 10 lost 1%.
NetMarketShare's statistics don't support that though: Vista was flat, XP grew, Windows 7 lost 0.5%, Windows 8 lost 0.1%, Windows 8.1 lost 0.5% Windows 10 lost 1%.
1 Likes, Who?
SirLootALot May 6, 2020
What would be the cause of such a bump? Well, entirely possible it's due to more people using Linux personally at home where they would perhaps be using Windows workstations in their job.That's the situation with me. In the office I have to use Windows. At home I use Linux Mint. :)
(And sometimes a Commodore Amiga ... :D )
Last edited by KuJo on 7 May 2020 at 7:31 am UTC
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Exactly my situation, too. Well, minus the Amiga.What would be the cause of such a bump? Well, entirely possible it's due to more people using Linux personally at home where they would perhaps be using Windows workstations in their job.That's the situation with me. In the office I have to use Windows. At home I use Linux Mint. :)
(And sometimes a Commodore Amiga ... :D )
1 Likes, Who?
I think there is also the fact that kids are out of school, and wanting computer access. Also Mums and Dads are at home, and wanting to use the computer too. It wouldn't surprise me that this extra home computing activity (school closed, office closed) means that multiple computers are being used at home, not just a single computer. At least some of those computers are probably older machines which have been refreshed with a Linux install.
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Good new indeed! I'm lucky enough to be able to use Ubuntu both at home and at work :)
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At least at my workplace Microsoft is restricting volume licensed versions of windows in favor of subscription based licenses as of March 31, 2020
Being harder to "borrow" a work CD for home use might also cause an increase in Linux market share.
Being harder to "borrow" a work CD for home use might also cause an increase in Linux market share.
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At least at my workplace Microsoft is restricting volume licensed versions of windows in favor of subscription based licenses as of March 31, 2020Whoa, for real? They've been trying for many years now to move to a subscription model. Wonder if they'll manage to finally
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Cyba.Cowboy May 8, 2020
Well my tablet single-boots Ubuntu, my new laptop single-boots Ubuntu; and the wife is using my old laptop, which is single-booting Ubuntu again... Between the two laptops and the tablet, that's three devices - it all adds up.
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 8 May 2020 at 11:44 am UTC
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 8 May 2020 at 11:44 am UTC
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Honestly, I think that a good number of people are starting to think that Bill Gates really is evil afterall, and therefore nothing good can come from his OS, ultimately anyway. Plus lots of people simply have had more time on their hands and just decided to play around with Ubuntu because they were bored.
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Honestly, I think that a good number of people are starting to think that Bill Gates really is evil afterall,
Mostly tinfoil heads, lately.
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Cyba.Cowboy May 9, 2020
Honestly, I think that a good number of people are starting to think that Bill Gates really is evil afterall,
Mostly tinfoil heads, lately.
Just like John Cena the person, Bill Gates the person is one of the best things in this world... His company, not so much.
And it's not a case of "tinfoil hats" - Microsoft makes no secret about just how much of your personal information it tracks intimately within its software, almost all of which cannot be deactivated unless you have a "volume" license.
I don't know what other people have against Microsoft, but for me, it's their insistence that its users should have absolutely no privacy whatsoever, unless they purchase a "volume" license... That's simply unforgivable.
After nearly ten years of being Microsoft free, I don't miss it one bit...
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 9 May 2020 at 7:45 am UTC
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Microsoft makes no secret about just how much of your personal information it tracks intimately within its software, almost all of which cannot be deactivated unless you have a "volume" license.
I wouldn't be here if I were a fan of them. Though I fear there's worse companies nowadays...
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