Looking at multiple places, it appears like the Linux desktop has been on something of a roll lately with the market share starting to trend upwards. As always with any kind of statistics gathering, you need a pinch of salt.
On the NetMarketShare website, the Linux share as we reported last month suddenly had an upwards surge from 1.36% to 2.87%. You could easily write it off once but here we are again and the Linux share has risen up to 3.17%. Even on their stats, it rising twice in a row is quite rare and never usually this much either. Looking into their stats further, it appears Ubuntu is the clear winner and what's pushing it going from 0.27% in March up to 2.11% in May.
It's somewhat backed up by Steam's statistics too, when you look at their monthly hardware survey. The Linux user share on there has risen now three months in a row which we keep an eye on with our Steam Tracker, and the trend there is pretty darn clear. Currently Linux is sat on 0.91% according to Valve's Steam survey.
We can speculate as much as we like as to why but we may never really know what's going on. More people at home, more people using Linux in the home than the old Windows machines at the office? Could be any mixture of things but it's still interesting to see.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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people are plainly sick of windows 10 and rightfully so.let it keep rising.im not saying we will pass the mac numbers but if that keeps happening we might just do that.
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people are plainly sick of windows 10 and rightfully so.let it keep rising.im not saying we will pass the mac numbers but if that keeps happening we might just do that.
I think Corona may be a factor too. Lots of people bored and during last year and LTT and many other youtubers has been showing Linux distros qualities. This unexpected free time probably allowed many to give it a try.
Last edited by x_wing on 2 June 2020 at 5:47 pm UTC
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people are plainly sick of windows 10 and rightfully so.let it keep rising.im not saying we will pass the mac numbers but if that keeps happening we might just do that.
I think Corona may be a factor too. Lots of people bored and during last year and LTT and many other youtubers has been showing Linux distros qualities. This unexpected free time probably allowed many to give it a try.
I wish I had more free time :)
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How does NetMarketShare analyze the distro? Browsers don't report it, so how do they even know what's Ubuntu and what's not?
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 June 2020 at 6:09 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 June 2020 at 6:09 pm UTC
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I would love to cheer at this development, but two things make me modify my glee. First, the idea of Ubuntu going from 0.27% to 2.11% in two months is ridiculous. This sounds more like someone fixing something that was causing existing Ubuntu not to be shown. So, probably Linux just had a higher share all along than NetMarketShare realized. That in itself is kind of nice, but it's not the same as a sudden major rise.
Second, I note that in tandem with the rise of Linux share on Steam there is, as usual, a decline in simplified Chinese share. So again, this may not mean much except that the Chinese don't use Linux (more fool they--if there's one bunch that would benefit from ripping out Windows and replacing it with Linux, that would be China).
Second, I note that in tandem with the rise of Linux share on Steam there is, as usual, a decline in simplified Chinese share. So again, this may not mean much except that the Chinese don't use Linux (more fool they--if there's one bunch that would benefit from ripping out Windows and replacing it with Linux, that would be China).
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I wish I had more free time :)
Me too. Everyone at home with free time but I'm at home working as always and trying to figure out when to stop... Corona stole my vacations :(
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How does NetMarketShare analyze the distro? Browsers don't report it, so how do they even know what's Ubuntu and what's not?
User agent reports that information:
https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/what-is-my-user-agent
But is quite easily to change (there is a very handy firefox plugin)
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User agent reports that information:
https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/what-is-my-user-agent
I don't see anything about the distro in mine:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:78.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/78.0So I'd consider it a very unreliable method for that.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 June 2020 at 6:22 pm UTC
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It would be beautiful if this rise would stay and be consistent.
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Maybe more devs working from home on their own Linux machines, freer of corporate constraints ?
Another option is uptick in Chromebooks that schools give out to children for remote learning. Not sure if ChromeOS is reported as something else or as Linux.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 June 2020 at 6:32 pm UTC
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I wonder if this is due to Corona and furloing of staff.
Business will have tonnes of windows machine for day to day usage. A large number of employers shut down operations not only due "work from home" but furlow. So a percentage rise could easily be a reduction in windows usage.
Whatever the reason, the result is good
Business will have tonnes of windows machine for day to day usage. A large number of employers shut down operations not only due "work from home" but furlow. So a percentage rise could easily be a reduction in windows usage.
Whatever the reason, the result is good
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ChromeOS is separate in NetMarketShare.Maybe more devs working from home on their own Linux machines, freer of corporate constraints ?
Another option is uptick in Chromebooks that schools give out to children for remote learning. Not sure if ChromeOS is reported as something else or as Linux.
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Well, this week I finally got a steam survey. The last time I got one, I was still on Windows. So now finally, since November 2018, I am also counted as a Linux user.
Valve really should just sent out a survey for once to all active users. That way we get a proper look.
Valve really should just sent out a survey for once to all active users. That way we get a proper look.
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Maybe more devs working from home on their own Linux machines, freer of corporate constraints ?
I might live in the bubble, but the devs around me are happily keeping their Windows 10 and trying WSL2...
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Well, we're not looking at a big percentage here even now, so yeah, most are no doubt doing that.Maybe more devs working from home on their own Linux machines, freer of corporate constraints ?
I might live in the bubble, but the devs around me are happily keeping their Windows 10 and trying WSL2...
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Second, I note that in tandem with the rise of Linux share on Steam there is, as usual, a decline in simplified Chinese share. So again, this may not mean much except that the Chinese don't use Linux (more fool they--if there's one bunch that would benefit from ripping out Windows and replacing it with Linux, that would be China).
China's mandating that government computers stop using foreign proprietary software for the same reasons other governments do:
Beijing has ordered all government offices and public institutions to remove foreign computer equipment and software within three years, in a potential blow to the likes of HP, Dell and Microsoft.
Report from the Financial Times.
They have their own distros in Kylin and Deepin already. Whether that will translate to more people using Linux in their leisure time it's too early to say (or even if they'll manage to achieve it for government computers) but people wanting to use the same system at home that they were used to at work was a part of Microsoft's desktop dominance back in the day.
Last edited by CatKiller on 2 June 2020 at 8:15 pm UTC
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In Fedora I have an extension that modifies my user agent and reports my OS.User agent reports that information:
https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/what-is-my-user-agent
I don't see anything about the distro in mine:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:78.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/78.0
So I'd consider it a very unreliable method for that.
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Fedora; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/81.0.4044.138 Safari/537.36Maybe Ubuntu (and it's many children) have something like that? Dunno, just throwing that out there. No comment on the reliability of it all either. I haven't looked at their data collection methods at all.
Last edited by randyl on 2 June 2020 at 8:57 pm UTC
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In Fedora I have an extension that modifies my user agent and reports my OS.
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Fedora; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/81.0.4044.138 Safari/537.36
Maybe Ubuntu (and it's many children) have something like that? Dunno, just throwing that out there. No comment on the reliability of it all either. I haven't looked at their data collection methods at all.
Ubuntu reports their name in the User Agent too. Reliable or not, I'm not sure if there is any other better way to guess your OS when people is web browsing.
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I wonder how accurate any of these statistics are.
Overall, though, I think the days of people "escaping" Windows are probably over, and many of those who do are quite happen on Chrome OS, which is maybe where they should be. Whatever one thinks of Windows, the current version is not the intravenous pain of Windows, say, circa 2013 or so. Windows might not be great, but the average muggle user is no longer tearing their hair out using Windows on a regular basis. So I believe the Linux desktop future is gunning for the makers, enthusiasts, gamers, and tinkerers who like to explore who have always been fueling Linux. I'm still surprised how many people who fit that description haven't tried Linux yet, and of those I've seen who switch to Linux and keep it long term tend to be from that group. So many people got into Linux once upon a time by trying those free Linux CD's, what's 2020's version of that going to be? BTW, I do think it helps to have preinstalled Linux devices out there in the wild, and the ever increasing trend there is good.
Overall, though, I think the days of people "escaping" Windows are probably over, and many of those who do are quite happen on Chrome OS, which is maybe where they should be. Whatever one thinks of Windows, the current version is not the intravenous pain of Windows, say, circa 2013 or so. Windows might not be great, but the average muggle user is no longer tearing their hair out using Windows on a regular basis. So I believe the Linux desktop future is gunning for the makers, enthusiasts, gamers, and tinkerers who like to explore who have always been fueling Linux. I'm still surprised how many people who fit that description haven't tried Linux yet, and of those I've seen who switch to Linux and keep it long term tend to be from that group. So many people got into Linux once upon a time by trying those free Linux CD's, what's 2020's version of that going to be? BTW, I do think it helps to have preinstalled Linux devices out there in the wild, and the ever increasing trend there is good.
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