According to the StatCounter, Linux on the desktop has continued to rise and remains above 4%, with this being the healthiest it's ever looked on the desktop.
First hitting over 4% in February, their March data is now in showing not just staying above 4% but rising a little once again showing the trend is clear that Linux use is rising. Slow and steady wins the race as they say.
Here's how things have looked over the last year+
- January 23 - 2.91%
- February 23 - 2.94%
- March 23 - 2.85%
- April 23 - 2.83%
- May 23 - 2.7%
- June 23 - 3.07%
- July 23 - 3.12%
- August 23 - 3.18%
- September 23 - 3.02%
- October 23 - 2.92%
- November 23 - 3.22%
- December 23 - 3.82%
- January 24 - 3.77%
- February 24 - 4.03%
- March 24 - 4.05%
Technically, ChromeOS is also Linux, and while people like to debate that if you do include Linux and ChromeOS together it would actually be 6.32%. A number that is getting steadily harder for developers of all kinds to ignore. It terms of overall percentage, it's still relatively small but when you think about how many people that actually is, it's a lot.
Another look since 2009:
For those thinking it may be due to Steam Deck with SteamOS, it's unlikely, at least not directly. StatCounter gather their info from web traffic across over 1.5 million sites globally. I doubt all that many browse the web regularly on Deck. However, indirectly? Possible, I've seen lots and lots of posts about people enjoying Linux thanks to the Desktop Mode on the Steam Deck. There's going to be various other bigger factors at play here though, like Linux nowadays actually being properly good on the desktop.
See the stats on StatCounter.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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rustigsmed Apr 9, 2024
with win10 support ending for home users late next year combined with win11 high system requirements we could see a continued or slight jump. anyone want to predict Jan 2026? will 6% or higher be possible? It will be interesting and fun to watch.
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with win10 support ending for home users late next year combined with win11 high system requirements we could see a continued or slight jump. anyone want to predict Jan 2026? will 6% or higher be possible? It will be interesting and fun to watch.
4% in 2024, 6% in 2026, 80% in 2300.
Last edited by pb on 9 April 2024 at 1:16 pm UTC
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It turns out life is beatiful in Canada. :D
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Slow and steady wins the race. Go, Linux, Go! 
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pleasereadthemanual Apr 9, 2024
Technically, ChromeOS is also Linux, and while people like to debate that if you do include Linux and ChromeOS together it would actually be 6.32%. A number that is getting steadily harder for developers of all kinds to ignore.If I remember correctly from last time we had a market share thread, more knowledgeable users than me pointed out that ChromeOS does not run Linux binaries (without installing Linux containers); it only runs webapps. That adds pressure for developers like Adobe to release webapps and hopefully make them good substitutes for native programs, but it doesn't mean anything for making Native Linux programs.
Wine still can't run Adobe Creative Cloud, but hey, at least you have a few more options today...
with win10 support ending for home users late next year combined with win11 high system requirements we could see a continued or slight jump. anyone want to predict Jan 2026? will 6% or higher be possible? It will be interesting and fun to watch.I'm curious how many people will pay for extended support. For business users, it starts at $60 per year, then $120 for the next year, and $240 for the last year. Extended support for home users will likely be cheaper...
By 2025, I think Wayland will be a good experience for everyone. STF's funding for GNOME runs out at the end of 2024, and hopefully the accessibility stack will be up to snuff. v1 of the Color Management/HDR protocol will hopefully be finalized this year. Wine 10.0 will probably have the Wayland driver exposed by default. Noveau + Zink + NVK will have had more time to mature. GIMP 3.0 will be out with so many improvements. So it'll probably be a good time to switch!
In some ways, I'm glad Fedora 40 is forcibly cutting ties with X11 next week (although a KDE developer maintains X11 packages for Fedora, they aren't installed by default) as it will give more users more time to live on Wayland, which gives user-facing programs like Steam, Discord, and Krita (after CM...) more time to switch to Wayland. I just worry about Linux Mint's Wayland project.
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15 years to get to 3% and 6 months to reach 4%. That is a 25% increase in 6 months.
That is an exponential increase and a very positive outlook. Is Linux about to go mainstream?
The next quarter will be interesting.
That is an exponential increase and a very positive outlook. Is Linux about to go mainstream?
The next quarter will be interesting.
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> A number that is getting steadily
> harder for developers of all kinds
> to ignore.
On the other side, it seems we can grow even without all of them :)
> harder for developers of all kinds
> to ignore.
On the other side, it seems we can grow even without all of them :)
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> A number that is getting steadilyWell, one thing I've increasingly noticed about Linux is the software ecosystem is for a lot of things actually pretty decent now . . . and free, and available right in the distro's software centre thingie. On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run. And on Windows you can do it, but you have to be aware of it and go searching for each individual piece. So on both, there's a tendency to just go with the expensive stuff which these days is often crappy subscription services. For people without big budgets, you can actually be limited in what you can use your computer for just because you don't want to buy (or bloody rent!) the software and you don't know there's another way. On Linux, if I suddenly find that I need to do Z, I may look on the menus and find that something for Z is already installed, but if not I go to the distro's software centre thingie and type in a search term and download and now I can do Z.
> harder for developers of all kinds
> to ignore.
On the other side, it seems we can grow even without all of them :)
So although it's technically true that the Windows software ecosystem is still bigger and for some use-cases better, functionally for a lot of people it's probably the other way around. That wasn't true back in the 2000s.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 9 April 2024 at 6:23 pm UTC
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I doubt all that many browse the web regularly on Deck. However, indirectly? Possible, I've seen lots and lots of posts about people enjoying Linux thanks to the Desktop Mode on the Steam Deck.
That's a good point. The overlap is probably quite small.
I really think all of the growth with Linux will come from the spill over. Tech dad installs Linux, sees it works just fine. Kids computers don't support Win11 and require hardware upgrade. Doesn't want to replace perfectly working hardware for Win11 support. Installs Linux on kidos computers. For every 1 tech dad, you get an average of 2-3 bonus Linux installs. Normally tech dad would have had to stick with Windows on the kids computers so they can play games or they needed Windows for school. But that's been flipped on its head.
The question I have, how long will the spill over last. Once the machines have to be replaced, then what happens?
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O
. GIMP 3.0 will be out with so many improvements.
im not sure if that will be enough to counter photoshop AI stuff...
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pleasereadthemanual Apr 9, 2024
No way, but it has basic NDE (absolutely huge difference and necessary for so many people's workflows), multi-layer select, decent CMYK support, Wayland support, GTK3 support ... those are the things I noticed in 5 minutes of using the dev branch. The GSoC projects this year have me even more excited.O. GIMP 3.0 will be out with so many improvements.
im not sure if that will be enough to counter photoshop AI stuff...
I don't expect GIMP to ever replace Photoshop for the simple reason that Photoshop is the only program that has perfect compatibility with .PSD files (with the exception of maybe Photopea?). That is what it would need for it to replace Photoshop for me and for a lot of other people. Same goes for Scribus, Inkscape, Natron, and Kdenlive/DaVinci Resolve for Adobe's respective formats, to a lesser extent. What's important is that GIMP is more pleasant to use and has more professional features for the odd things. Those that aren't locked to Photoshop then have a good option on Linux, and a good open source option on Windows and macOS.
On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run.In general, it's a lot easier than Windows because it has a lot of the same libraries as Linux due to its *BSD heritage. Homebrew makes it so. It's why so many developers use macOS (Unix without the hassle, as they used to say). However, both GIMP and Krita have significant performance issues on macOS due to OpenGL, but mpv works fine for example. Kdenlive (and Lightworks, interestingly) can't handle scrolling inertia at all, but DaVinci Resolve is a fantastic experience on macOS. And Wine is more of a hassle. Open source software is quite easily installed on macOS compared to Windows, but the actual experience can be hit-or-miss.
I agree that there is a tendency to pay for stuff. Somehow I ended up paying for Magnet instead of installing Rectangle.
That being said, you can pry my Intel Mac from my cold dead hands before I shell out money for Apple Silicon (famous last words).
Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 10 April 2024 at 1:05 am UTC
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I was thinking more along the lines of just a bit of a pain to install because of Apple walled garden stuff, not so much not working or anything.On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run.In general, it's a lot easier than Windows because it has a lot of the same libraries as Linux due to its *BSD heritage.
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pleasereadthemanual Apr 10, 2024
Oh, well in that case, not really! Installing open source software (or any kind of software, really) is pretty easy on macOS. Even installing homebrew is possible with a click (and a drag, and an OK prompt, and a right-click to Open it) or a one-line command. Same deal with, say, Krita. Just download the .DMG and go through a wizard. Most people don't use the App Store because it sucks for getting software anyway.I was thinking more along the lines of just a bit of a pain to install because of Apple walled garden stuff, not so much not working or anything.On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run.In general, it's a lot easier than Windows because it has a lot of the same libraries as Linux due to its *BSD heritage.
I actually think macOS is a pretty decent OS (with major caveats) and isn't much more locked down than Windows. In some ways, I think it's less limiting. It's all of Apple's other devices where that reputation is rightly deserved.
Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 10 April 2024 at 2:01 am UTC
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Oh, well in that case, not really! Installing open source software (or any kind of software, really) is pretty easy on macOS. Even installing homebrew is possible with a click (and a drag, and an OK prompt, and a right-click to Open it) or a one-line command. Same deal with, say, Krita. Just download the .DMG and go through a wizard. Most people don't use the App Store because it sucks for getting software anyway.I was thinking more along the lines of just a bit of a pain to install because of Apple walled garden stuff, not so much not working or anything.On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run.In general, it's a lot easier than Windows because it has a lot of the same libraries as Linux due to its *BSD heritage.
I actually think macOS is a pretty decent OS (with major caveats) and isn't much more locked down than Windows. In some ways, I think it's less limiting. It's all of Apple's other devices where that reputation is rightly deserved.
Don't forget that you can also use Macports if you want to install open source software and while it's not as simple as homebrew, it's not a bad tool to use if you set it up.
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I might have to find a less mainstream OS, this is becoming uncomfortable.
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> A number that is getting steadilyWell, one thing I've increasingly noticed about Linux is the software ecosystem is for a lot of things actually pretty decent now . . . and free, and available right in the distro's software centre thingie. On Mac, I suspect open source software is quite hard to run. And on Windows you can do it, but you have to be aware of it and go searching for each individual piece. So on both, there's a tendency to just go with the expensive stuff which these days is often crappy subscription services. For people without big budgets, you can actually be limited in what you can use your computer for just because you don't want to buy (or bloody rent!) the software and you don't know there's another way. On Linux, if I suddenly find that I need to do Z, I may look on the menus and find that something for Z is already installed, but if not I go to the distro's software centre thingie and type in a search term and download and now I can do Z.
> harder for developers of all kinds
> to ignore.
On the other side, it seems we can grow even without all of them :)
So although it's technically true that the Windows software ecosystem is still bigger and for some use-cases better, functionally for a lot of people it's probably the other way around. That wasn't true back in the 2000s.
I agree, our distribution method is far superior, among other advantages, in the sense that is one centralized thing.
Unfortunately not everyone seem to fully understand that, so there is a proliferation of unofficial external repos, and flatpaks, and co, that mine its nature and in the long run they can make us regress.
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i don't expect GIMP to ever replace Photoshop for the simple reason that Photoshop is the only program that has perfect compatibility with .PSD files (with the exception of maybe Photopea?).
not even adobe have an perfect compatibility with their own file formats.
i used flash (not to be confused with flash player, flash was the authoring tool) and it could support up to one version...
i remember that in college, we had 2 labs, one with flash 4 and one with flash 6.
flash CS6 opened files from CS6, CS 5.5 and CS 5.0
on the other lab, we had flash cs4 with suport for fla files made on CS4 , CS 3.5 and CS3.
im not sure if photoshop work the same way, but i wouldnt be surprised.
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Vortex_Acherontic Apr 10, 2024
The thumbnail should have said: Loonix to add up to the meme
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Vortex_Acherontic Apr 10, 2024
with win10 support ending for home users late next year combined with win11 high system requirements we could see a continued or slight jump. anyone want to predict Jan 2026? will 6% or higher be possible? It will be interesting and fun to watch.
I suspect not. Most users are lazy and instead will just buy new hardware. Especially since Windows has established the "well known fact" that PCs slow down over time and you have to either re-install the OS or just get a new computer. Most ppl will do the later I suspect.
Even at the company where I work they downgraded to Windows 11 in the past few months and oh boi ... the amount of PCs which where ripped out of the office was stellar maybe like 30 PCs just from our department. Considering companies try to keep costs low it seemed not be the an issue to trash alls those still wonderfully working systems.
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... the amount of PCs which where ripped out of the office was stellar maybe like 30 PCs just from our department. Considering companies try to keep costs low it seemed not be the an issue to trash alls those still wonderfully working systems.Argh, that makes me cringe! There are so many good uses that those perfectly-good machines could be put to!
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