We see the nearly 33-year-old OS’s market share growing 31.3 percent from June 2023, when we last reported on Linux market share, to February. Since June, Linux usage has mostly increased gradually. Overall, there’s been a big leap in usage compared to five years ago. In February 2019, Linux was reportedly on 1.58 percent of desktops globally.
You heard it here first.
2024: Year of the Linux Desktop
1991: Year of the Linux Desktop199219931994…
201920202021202220232024
2023 was officially the year of the Linux laptop for me. The year of the linux desktop for myself may or may not be this year.
It looks like it’s because macos lost a lot for some reason over the last couple of years with Windows and Linux picking up that share. Anyone know why?
My company was pushing MacBooks and iMacs on developers for years, now they’re reversing course. I’m guessing it’s a combination of the upfront cost and the hassle of enterprise administration, tech support, and security having to officially handle 2 different OS’s. It’s much easier to have everyone on similar setups, and Windows is basically the “default” OS for corporate users.
The new arch continues to mess up brew, which is by far what people use for development on the platform. In addition, docker and other custom tools are paid on Mac but free on Linux. With companies tightening their belts, Linux is starting to make financial sense.
What’s this about Docker not being free on MacOS? I have it installed and use it for dev work and it didn’t cost anything.
Docker desktop has a license that restricts commercial use depending on the size of your company/employer.
Use Colima to be on the safe side.
I’ve been a regular user of Debian and Ubuntu for the last 20 years and even though I love the idea of Linux taking market share from Windows the article doesn’t in any way analyze the reliability of the statistics.
Statcounter says it gets its desktop operating system (OS) usage stats from tracking code installed on over 1.5 million global websites generating over 5 billion monthly page views.
So… How reliable is this actually? There are a millions reasons for me to fake which is and web browser in using. Some sites actively sabotage the user experience and usability if the OS is not identified as Windows or the web browser is not Chrome/Edge.
I’ve been working IT since the 90’s and there’s not a 4% market share of Linux when I look at my friends and colleagues that works IT. The ones I know that doesn’t work IT definitively don’t use Linux. Att least not in other things than Steam Deck and Android (Linux as in “modified kernel”) and maybe some premade img for RPi
Idk, I’m a woman approaching my senior years who had to have someone else install it. My whole household is on Linux. None of us are in IT.
My grandparents had someone else to install Linux too. It was me btw.
That’s the point. As long as you can’t buy a laptop with Linux on it at your local computer store, the average user will stick with Windows. And MS will do everything they can to keep it that way.
Down here in Brazil desktops/laptops with Linux are a thing on most mainstream electronics stores. Have been for at least two decades b/cs I remember seeing those as a kid in the 2000s. Because poverty so the stores always have the cheaper options and the ones with Linux are cheaper than windows. Sometimes you can find the exact same configuration but the Linux version is like 200-400 BRL cheaper.
But what most people would do here is buy the Linux desktop to then install pirated versions of windows.
Damn! You really gave me hope there and then smashed it with your last sentence.
Some sites actively sabotage the user experience and usability if the OS is not identified as Windows
Never heard of this and highly doubt it, but if it were true that’s 100% not a website I want to use, so they’d be doing me a favor.
You’re free to whatever opinion you might have but it’s not a secret that Google used to change their search page to a more limited one if you were using Firefox.
Hence people created add-ons to change the User Agent to mimic Chrome when accessing Google.
Edit: I just reread your comment and noticed that you only quoted the part about Windows.
I’ll just let my comment remain but it’s okay that you’re having an opinion that spoofing OS when accessing websites is not needed.
I’m well aware of that. Browser and OS aren’t the same thing. Weird.
I had to check if I was alone on this…I wasn’t. First hit on a quick Google:
So yeah, not alone… this is the hill I’m dying on😁
I’ve been daily driving Linux for over 3 years and don’t remember ever seeing it. And as a web developer I know the only way that would happen is if a shitty business decision mandated it.
