Linux market share passes 4% for first time; macOS dominance declines
arstechnica.com
Report: Linux was on 6.34 percent of computers last month if you count ChromeOS.

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.

  • mindlight@lemm.eeEnglish
    147·
    4 months ago

    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

    • RainfallSonata@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      4 months ago

      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.

      • uis@lemm.eeEnglish
        10·
        4 months ago

        My grandparents had someone else to install Linux too. It was me btw.

      • Diplomjodler@feddit.deEnglish
        91·
        4 months ago

        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.

        • GreatDong3000@lemm.eeEnglish
          12·
          4 months ago

          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.

    • mkwt@lemmy.worldEnglish
      231·
      4 months ago

      How reliable is this actually? There are a millions reasons for me to fake which is and web browser in using.

      Shouldn’t this effect cause Linux use to be under reported? That is, the real percentage would be higher than 4%?

      I would pretty strongly expect significant correlation between people who spoof their user agent and Linux users.

    • troed@fedia.io
      63·
      4 months ago

      A lot of software developers use Linux on their work computers. That’s a lot of page views done during work days.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      4 months ago

      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.

      • mindlight@lemm.eeEnglish
        42·
        4 months ago

        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.

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              11·
              4 months ago

              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.

              • jaemo@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                1·
                4 months ago

                Gonna second you in this one. My Manjaro box is what I run to as a gold standard if one of my families windows machines using Chrome fails to load something. It’s consistent, reliable and fast. What I think is missing from this conversation is: wired or wifi. One of the reasons the Linux machine is the yardstick is that it’s not using wifi; never had a first page load fail.

                Slack on Linux however… Eesh. Never had an app so reluctant to launch.