Do my eyes deceive me? Apparently not. According to Statcounter, the Linux share on the desktop has actually now passed 3% for the first time.
While it has been close a couple of times, the trend according to their stats is pretty clear that Linux use has been slowly rising over the last few years. This does not include ChromeOS, even though it's based on Linux, as they track that separately so this is just plain desktop Linux.
As always, keep a big pinch of salt ready though for any such survey. Statcounter gather this data from around "1.5 million sites globally". Still, just like the Steam Survey that we regularly look at for trends, it's an interesting measure to keep an eye on for the overall picture.
Across this year their stats show for Linux:
- January - 2.91%
- February - 2.94%
- March - 2.85%
- April - 2.83%
- May - 2.7%
- June - 3.07%
See the stats on Statcounter.
What are your thoughts? Be sure to leave a note in the comments!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Fester_Mudd Jul 11, 2023
Quoting: MiZoG13% in India is huge
The Linux origin country Finland was almost 11% a year ago too. Maybe the actual truth slipped through accidentally for a short moment? What is that Unknown operating system anyways globally? It if often very high up there.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/all/finland/#monthly-202206-202206-bar
1 Likes, Who?
Dana Souly Jul 11, 2023
I've helped a friend installing Linux Mint last weekend. 
He's still using Windows as a backup solution for some games - but nonetheless, a soft penguin is still a penguin ;)
He's still using Windows as a backup solution for some games - but nonetheless, a soft penguin is still a penguin ;)
5 Likes, Who?
Quoting: MiZoG13% in India is huge
That's probably half of all Linux users in the world :D
Kudos to India
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Fester_MuddQuoting: MiZoG13% in India is huge
The Linux origin country Finland was almost 11% a year ago too. Maybe the actual truth slipped through accidentally for a short moment? What is that Unknown operating system anyways globally? It if often very high up there.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/all/finland/#monthly-202206-202206-bar
My guess is that the Uknown OS is someone using a browser extension that hides their details, or maybe some proxy or vpn.
0 Likes
omeganebula Jul 11, 2023
Quoting: PenglingQuoting: BoldosI don't know (and trust), what these web counters are really showing.Curious. On Xubuntu, it reports itself as Ubuntu, as expected. I've never meddled with it.
Not because they are rigged, but because the browsers themselves are rigged.
What does my Ubuntu pre-installed Firefox report?
That said, that minutiae from my end of things doesn't invalidate your point at all.You're absolutely right, and there are plenty of folks who do this deliberately in order to make wonky web-apps work properly, too.
Firefox's privacy.resistFingerprinting feature spoofs the user-agent to make it harder to identify a user on the web. Currently, Windows 10 is the least unique operating system, so it is used in the user-agent. As far as I know, the feature is not enabled by default, but it's possible that some distributions may enable it manually.
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI note ChromeOS is at 4%. If only it ran, you know, programs.
It has been possible to run quite a bit of desktop software easily on ChromeOS for years now. There is even an effort underway to officially support Steam.
https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/steam-on-chromeos/
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: mad_mesaI am quite interested in the Steam thing. As for the rest . . . define "easily"Quoting: Purple Library GuyI note ChromeOS is at 4%. If only it ran, you know, programs.
It has been possible to run quite a bit of desktop software easily on ChromeOS for years now. There is even an effort underway to officially support Steam.
https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/steam-on-chromeos/
1 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Jul 12, 2023
Quoting: michaInterestingly, it seems the upward change solely comes from Ukraine:Can we assume that it comes from an increase in military devices usage? 😰
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/ukraine
1 Likes, Who?
Kuduzkehpan Jul 13, 2023
6.49% linux desktop share in Turkey it is highest point for now.
here my reason list for increasing linux usage,
1) Proton/valve/SteamDeck as an offical support for more games will run under linux.
2) Valve/SteamDeck as a proof of Linux OS is viable secure speedy Gaming OS even it requires 3rd party tools to be able to run games.
3) Less reasons to not recommend Linux for newbies. because gaming ability at stage of ""xxx" game will work mostly out of box" from "any xxx game cant be installed" on your System.
4) Persistent increasing government support for linux, as for over 365 uniq distribution has been created and used in last 20 years.
5) microsoft monopoly over big companies are scaring small companies.
here my reason list for increasing linux usage,
1) Proton/valve/SteamDeck as an offical support for more games will run under linux.
2) Valve/SteamDeck as a proof of Linux OS is viable secure speedy Gaming OS even it requires 3rd party tools to be able to run games.
3) Less reasons to not recommend Linux for newbies. because gaming ability at stage of ""xxx" game will work mostly out of box" from "any xxx game cant be installed" on your System.
4) Persistent increasing government support for linux, as for over 365 uniq distribution has been created and used in last 20 years.
5) microsoft monopoly over big companies are scaring small companies.
1 Likes, Who?
Well yeah a million steam decks have been sold that's one million new Linux users in one hit
2 Likes, Who?
Well, I just joined and don't think I plan to leave unless something major goes wrong. 
Windows 11 was just too much for me to handle, and after reading about Lutris I was ready to jump. My Steam Deck already showed me that most of my games would run on Linux, so I wasn't worried there; just wanted to know that most of my GOG games would work.
Windows 11 was just too much for me to handle, and after reading about Lutris I was ready to jump. My Steam Deck already showed me that most of my games would run on Linux, so I wasn't worried there; just wanted to know that most of my GOG games would work.
9 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Whitewolfe80Well yeah a million steam decks have been sold that's one million new Linux users in one hit
SteamDeck was at 1 million last year, the number is probably above 2 millions by now, but SteamDeck is unlikely to contribute to Statcounter, i.e. the report from Statcounter is excluding most of SteamDecks. This is because Statcounter depends on visited web sites and my guess is that SteamDeck users spend the vast majority of their time playing games rather than browsing web sites.
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tthimbleWell, I just joined and don't think I plan to leave unless something major goes wrong.Welcome - always good to see new faces at GOL!
Windows 11 was just too much for me to handle, and after reading about Lutris I was ready to jump. My Steam Deck already showed me that most of my games would run on Linux, so I wasn't worried there; just wanted to know that most of my GOG games would work.
Hope to see you join in on the forum, too!
6 Likes, Who?
Quoting: PenglingWelcome - always good to see new faces at GOL!Thank you so much!
I wasn't aware of the forums, so thanks for pointing them out. Not sure how much I dare to contribute as a newbie, but it's fun to at least try to be part of the community.
4 Likes, Who?
I noticed this the other day, good news. I think a lot of people not being happy with w11 has to do something with it. Also the word of mouth is out since steam deck uses linux. I dont mean steam deck is counted but more people even knowing about linux is guaranteed since they are looking at the deck and learning what linux is probably for the first time. This gives at least a better chance at some of these people to look into trying out linux.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tthimbleQuoting: PenglingWelcome - always good to see new faces at GOL!Thank you so much!
I wasn't aware of the forums, so thanks for pointing them out. Not sure how much I dare to contribute as a newbie, but it's fun to at least try to be part of the community.
Ahh I wouldn't worry everybody was new to Linux gaming once
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: RomlokQuoting: BloomberyWhat is "unknown", Linux?Given that a large jump in "unknown"s apparently happened at the same time as a large dip in "Windows" (April), my guess is that Microsoft changed something privacy-wise in Edge which made Statcounter not be able to identify them as Windows.
Then, that the subsequent drop in "unknown"s in June resulted in a fairly proportional increase in all the platforms, suggests to me that Statcounter (likely driven by the increase in "unknown"s in their data) found a way to identify (or guess/assume) a browser's platform in spite of some common cross-platform privacy feature.
Edit: This effect seems especially stark in India! https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/india
(also, 13.8% Desktop Linux in India!)
Thank you very much! 😲
0 Likes
Quoting: SolarwingApparently the "birds" have flown around the globe and spread the word of free OS. I think Valve is somehow behind this increase as Linux gaming has been going up for sometime. It cannot be coincidence.I can say only this:fly Tux fly!The 4% is next!!!
there are 2 ads for flying penguins, one is made by BBC and other had the same visuals and was about linux, im not sure if both had an licence to use the images
1 Likes, Who?
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