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Multiple statistics have shown Linux market-share doing better than ever

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Good news for Linux fans, as multiple big websites showing off statistics have shown Linux is on the rise!

Note: These should always been taken with a pinch of salt. Even with that said, multiple places are reporting a rise in Linux market-share, which is a good sign when put together.

Netmarketshare statistics reports that Linux has seen a marketshare of over 2% for 7 months in a row now. This means that Linux in the space of a year jumped 0.55%. This may not sound like much, but that can represent a lot of people. This is pretty damn good, since for years we were stuck well below 2%.

The site w3counter has seen something similar, as Linux didn't even register in their top 10 operating systems in September 2016, but suddenly in October 2016 it number 10 with 2.72%, then in November 2016 3.14% and December 2016 3.80%.

The case with w3schools stats is a bit different, but still trending towards something good for us. In 2003 Linux was just hitting 2.6%, but fast forward to 2016 and Linux is hitting around 5.6%.

Finally, pornhub (NSFW obviously), a popular porn website has seen a 14% increase in traffic from Linux in the space of a year.

Looks like things are going pretty nicely for Linux in general right now. This is good news for us, as more people using Linux means more people are likely to look into gaming on Linux too.

Keep it going Linux users and gamers! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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Grimfist Jan 8, 2017
Hurray that is Awesome. Also Pornhub is arguably the best source for such Statistics :D
Xpander Jan 8, 2017
i think we are growing in steam also, just slower than other OS's, steam userbase is rapidly growing specially the Asian side and this side of the planet sadly doesnt use linux that much afaik. That might explain why we dont see increase in precentage in steamHWSurvey. Also it seems distro hoppers or the ones who sometimes run steam through wine get the survey prompt more often.
hidekin Jan 8, 2017
I have a friend that use a windows machine for his games and a linux machine only for porn because of the malwares and virus from the porn websites :D
Liam Dawe Jan 8, 2017
I would say Steam is pretty accurate also. As mentioned, Steam is growing and quite quickly in certain markets which is likely dwarfing Linux growth.

Remember it's a ratio, so a lower % doesn't mean the overall number is lower. Considering how it has been holding with Steam's growing userbase it means our overall number is likely a lot higher than 2 years ago.

Edit: Spelling error.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 9 January 2017 at 10:55 am UTC
whitewolfguy Jan 8, 2017
Quoting: finaldestLearning to use Linux was the best decision I have ever made and wish that I had tried it years ago. I would never go back to windows now and this is all thanks to windows 10 giving me the push to try Linux.

I do believe that by the end of 2017 that we may just reach a 5% marketshare figure, Hopefully.

Quoting: dmantione5% on which stat website? Except for W3Schools, 5% looks a bit out of range to me. I would be very happy with 3% on Netmarketshare end 2017.

It is always good to see new users coming to Linux.

All these data show that 2016 use of Linux has grown, perhaps not as much as we would like, but it seems that Linux usage has never been so great as now.

Really 5% seems a bit distant, if by the end of 2017 we can reach 3% in Netmarketshare and finally pass 1% in Steam, it will be a considerable advance.
Suppen Jan 8, 2017
Lots of guys who figured out that if they dual boot, they can use Linux for porn, and there will be no evidence of the porn on their main OS
wojtek88 Jan 8, 2017
Quoting: SuppenLots of guys who figured out that if they dual boot, they can use Linux for porn, and there will be no evidence of the porn on their main OS
Honestly? That's fine by me. At some point they will figure out that such an OS is safe and much easier to use than some of people may think, then they can actually spend more and more time on Linux. And in the end they may decide that they will abandon Windows and focus on Linux.
Of course most of them may end in what you described, but still - it's good for us if people are getting familiar with different distributions and make their own opinions about Linux.
AlveKatt Jan 8, 2017
I wonder, if Linux gets too popular, won't that mean we need to watch out for viruses targeting Linux more?

Doesn't the IOT botnet that took out several ISPs show that out of date Linux installs might be as vulnerable as unpatched windows machines?


Last edited by AlveKatt on 8 January 2017 at 4:15 pm UTC
Xpander Jan 8, 2017
Quoting: GuestPerhaps nobody is using wine where those 2-3% stats are collected. Wine is bad for us in every area. Thinking it gives us more games is a dangerous illusion. It gives us more devs and publishers who count us as customers without the need to actually make games for GNU/Linux.

i think you are overreacting a bit. no way there's so many wine users. Also we cant blame wine for this, its amazing program that allows to make the switch from windows much smoother for many people.


steam has lower precentage because linux gaming is still not as popular as general linux usage. Due to limited amount of games and performance problems. And linux users in steam are still growing, just much less than Windows numbers.
rune Jan 8, 2017
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: Purple Library GuySo . . . to point out the simple and obvious, among all those sites the lowest figure is over 2%.
We have 2.2%, 3.8%, 5.6%, 3%. All in all, the 1% figure can maybe be put to bed.
So either there's something odd about Steam statistics, or Linux is used more for everything else but gaming.
Perhaps nobody is using wine where those 2-3% stats are collected. Wine is bad for us in every area. Thinking it gives us more games is a dangerous illusion. It gives us more devs and publishers who count us as customers without the need to actually make games for GNU/Linux.

When it comes to playing new games, sure. You're lucky if you're able to play a DirectX 11 game using wine, since the DirectX 11 implementation is not even close to being complete.

However, I have to disagree when it comes to older games. If it's obvious that a game will never be ported to Linux, then there's only one way to play it.
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