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The Linux market share appears to continue rising with Ubuntu winning

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Take it with your usual dose of salt and scepticism but when looking over the Linux market share, at least on NetMarketShare it appears to continue rising.

While the latest from the Steam Survey shows a dip during June, the opposite is true here. We reported last month that NetMarketShare was showing a clear upwards trend. The sort of thing you can easily write-off across one or two months but now three months in a row it gives it a bit more credit.

Going from 1.36% in March 2020, up to 2.87% in April, 3.17% in May and now June's figure is in with 3.61%. Looking over past figures from them, this might be the first time we've ever seen it rise three months in a row without a break. This is not counting Chrome OS either, like some other stats end up bundling with Linux. Chrome OS has stayed around ~0.40%, with Ubuntu over this period rising from 0.27% in March to 2.57% in June which is crazy.

Still not clear what's driving this big uptick in Ubuntu users on their statistics and we can speculate until the end of days, still interesting to see though and quite possibly as a result of people working from home during the COVID19 outbreak.

What are your thoughts?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Misc
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helloCLD Jul 2, 2020
Is it possible that the apparent increase in Linux share is due to Windows users dropping their desktops/laptops entirely and going purely mobile? Meaning that Linux users aren't increasing, it's just the number of people using a web browser on a desktop or laptop is decreasing across the board?
I think the key here is the increase in the P0rn consumption...
It very well known that p0rn sites are infected with viruses for Windows, so it is more safe to watch p0rn using a Linux PC... Consumers are finally understanding it..
Plus, you can use a Linux Live distro without leaving a trace in the computer.
pytrys Jul 2, 2020
Quoting: helloCLDIs it possible that the apparent increase in Linux share is due to Windows users dropping their desktops/laptops entirely and going purely mobile? Meaning that Linux users aren't increasing, it's just the number of people using a web browser on a desktop or laptop is decreasing across the board?

Yep. As a former teacher I can say normies don't care about Linux or OS alternatives. They just use what they have on their machine.

And especially nowadays there is a big shift towards mobile devices, smartphones. I know plenty of people who do not have computer at all and they are pretty happy with their smartphone.

The whole PC market is shrinking and the most people live and use only the browser. OS doesn't matter in that case. Similarly the more people are just using their smartphone and browser there.

My 5cent, I can be wrong of course.
Linas Jul 2, 2020
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There is a huge resistance to Linux adoption in workspace IT support departments. Most places I have seen it's either completely forbidden to run Linux on your work machine or "don't ask, don't tell" kind of situation where you get zero support if something goes wrong. Software is bought and deployed without any consideration for Linux compatibility making it a minefield to navigate through as a Linux user. My direct boss literally pretends not to know that I run Linux, saying that I run "a more exotic kind of setup" if asked by the IT guys.
sketch Jul 2, 2020
when you work from home you work with the Os you choose
Mohandevir Jul 2, 2020
Quoting: pytrys
Quoting: helloCLDIs it possible that the apparent increase in Linux share is due to Windows users dropping their desktops/laptops entirely and going purely mobile? Meaning that Linux users aren't increasing, it's just the number of people using a web browser on a desktop or laptop is decreasing across the board?

Yep. As a former teacher I can say normies don't care about Linux or OS alternatives. They just use what they have on their machine.

And especially nowadays there is a big shift towards mobile devices, smartphones. I know plenty of people who do not have computer at all and they are pretty happy with their smartphone.

The whole PC market is shrinking and the most people live and use only the browser. OS doesn't matter in that case. Similarly the more people are just using their smartphone and browser there.

My 5cent, I can be wrong of course.

Quite true. General use is now in the mobile market. PCs are used for specific use-case where mobiles can't be efficient, like work and gaming, mainly. Streaming content is gone to the smart-tv's market or set-up boxes... The traditionnal PC market as been split in many device driven specific markets... And aside from Apple, it's all Linux based.

Let's hope that Valve will come with a new "device driven dedicated solution" for it's gaming catalog soon...


Last edited by Mohandevir on 2 July 2020 at 2:59 pm UTC
grigi Jul 2, 2020
Quoting: LinasThere is a huge resistance to Linux adoption in workspace IT support departments. Most places I have seen it's either completely forbidden to run Linux on your work machine or "don't ask, don't tell" kind of situation where you get zero support if something goes wrong. Software is bought and deployed without any consideration for Linux compatibility making it a minefield to navigate through as a Linux user. My direct boss literally pretends not to know that I run Linux, saying that I run "a more exotic kind of setup" if asked by the IT guys.

Sounds like my last 15 years of work...
g000h Jul 2, 2020
I'm not sure exactly how this next suggestion might be affecting the statistics, but it is certainly worth thinking about:

In my work-place, the typical user is on Windows and leaves their computer *on* overnight. Rather than shut-down and conserve electricity, they are so lazy they just screen-lock and go home.

With COVID-19, the companies have no doubt stipulated that desktops are powered down, as they are not in daily use, and they wish to cut down service costs.
KohlyKohl Jul 2, 2020
Quoting: LinasThere is a huge resistance to Linux adoption in workspace IT support departments. Most places I have seen it's either completely forbidden to run Linux on your work machine or "don't ask, don't tell" kind of situation where you get zero support if something goes wrong. Software is bought and deployed without any consideration for Linux compatibility making it a minefield to navigate through as a Linux user. My direct boss literally pretends not to know that I run Linux, saying that I run "a more exotic kind of setup" if asked by the IT guys.

I remember at my last job I had to ask them to flip on Linux support for the Cisco VPN. They didn't want to right away but I talked them into it.

They refuse to support Linux at my current job.
stankalovich Jul 2, 2020
There have a been a few Linus Tech Tips videos that were very pro Linux. The impact of a channel with 11.2M subscribers (as of now) can't be ignored.
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