What If Linux Became More Popular Than Windows?

The latest Statcounter numbers has Linux coming in at a whopping 4.5% of worldwide desktop operating system marketshare. That essentially means that we have tripled our marketshare in the last ten years. But what happens if Linux eventually becomes the dominant desktop operating system? Let's discuss...
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[@mserica6487]

One of the many things I like about Linux is that it makes my computer feel like I actually own it.

[@akusworld5117]

"I dislike Microsoft"

[@secfeed6987]

Exactly!!!

[@HKIHNDKNSI]

​@@akusworld5117same

[@edkolovrat6514]

Until you find out about Intel ME chips.😂🤫

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@edkolovrat6514 As someone who has worked in cyber-security for 18 years now, I too would prefer that Intel ME chips did not exist. However, there are no real world known exploits for ME chips, every paper written about them is theoretical but should be taken as a warning only.

[@pistolp8037]

We also need to thank the biggest gaming company - Valve - for helping to bring over 70% of the complete Steam games over to Linux. They also keep pushing forward to get that number to 100%. So, Linux is finally attracting gamers, which is a big market. Not to mention Valve created Linux hardware - The Steam Deck. LINUX FTW!

[@seylaw]

Valve's contributions to Mesa for the benefit of AMD GPUs are also very important.

[@ikcikor3670]

I think 70% is just the games that are confirmed to work, in reality there is probably less than 5% of games that definitely don't work on Linux right now

[@mgj8649]

​@@ikcikor3670 The only game I've personally never been able to get working on Linux is Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, and the HD remasters of them. Serious Sam 2, 3 & 4 all work fine (and SS3 runs natively).

[@zmaint]

This. Gaming drives the desktop market. The increase in users is due to Valve and also gaming content streamers moving to Linux. Let's also not forget to thank MS for continuing to make windows worse.

[@pistolp8037]

@@zmaint Couldn't have said it better. And I can play all the games I own on Steam with no problems, and with faster frame rates, because Linux uses far less resources. The other thing people take issue with is MS Office not being available on Linux, but Libre Office, which is almost identical, is free and open-source. As for video and photo editing, a lot of people are already leaving Adobe behind because of their criminal business practices, but there's plenty of free and paid for software to replace Adobe on Linux. A great one is DaVinci Resolve, which they use to edit Hollywood movies, or you can pay a one-time fee for the Pro version.

[@juanroldan4379]

I have been using Linux for years now. I just wanted to thank everyone involved in the Linux community and development. Linux has provided me with much freedom and joy. I love every distribution and wish nothing but goodness to everyone involved.

[@s1nistr433]

- Linux becomes popular - Corporations take it over and it becomes enshittified - We all switch to FreeBSD - FreeBSD becomes popular - Cycle repeats

[@TheSulross]

In answer to the video subject title: then all the forces and factors that made the other operating systems rotten places to be will turn their full attention to doing the same to Linux

[@TheSulross]

@@s1nistr433 - Cycle repeats Well, at some point everything transitions to the brain implant and we're all controlled cyborgs (many already are without said implants)

[@tobilinz_]

@@s1nistr433Since Linux is open source, I am not sure if the enshittify part works quite as well. Corporations can make apps or distros and enshittify them, but they can’t attack the kernal quite as well. And since Linux is very modular, people can easily switch out those bad parts. I actually think that because of that, corporations might finally be forced to make good software again. (lets all hope for that)

[@MrGamelover23]

​@@s1nistr433Except it's not possible to enshittify Linux because they don't own it

[@leighjenkins5601]

Quite a few people have come over to Linux since Microsoft announced Copilot and Recall....

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Credit to Microsoft for openly admitting that their crappy OSes now run spyware, as opposed to spending years telling their users to invest in virus checkers to stop the spyware.

[@petrusjnaude7279]

That and the end-of-support date for Windows 10 were the main reasons why I switched.

[@ketimcodes]

And Apple Intelligence

[@SpicyPoison]

I did. Never going back to Microsoft

[@peniswrinkle-jr]

This guy. Right here. I have always checked out Linux to see if it worked every couple years, and now it's basically 'good enough...' especially since I'm using a pre built laptop instead of a homemade tower and not trying to set up software raid on AMD hardware in an arch terminal... And steam works now, too.

[@meerkat5818]

I expect a bump in Linux's market share next year when Windows 10 support ends

[@MegaLokopo]

Sadly it will be a small bump, it happens with every new windows release.

[@cejannuzi]

Yeah, like all those computer dealers who are paid to pump MS crap are going to say, Here, I'll install Linux for you. Fat chance.

[@Sezamn]

@@cejannuzi it's not about manufacturers, but about people that simply can't or don't want to install Windows 11.

[@GG22n]

​@@Sezamn they said the same with Windows 10.

[@Masta_E]

Small bump but a bump for sure. I have been helping many people move over because the AI stuff Microsoft is going to force. Would be cool to see something closer to 5% usage over the next year or so. Edit* Spelling

[@Dobrouh]

Windows: what is my purpose? User: you install Linux

[@c1nqbl7]

Windows: Oh my God

[@referralacc1033]

I know this was supposed to be a joke but to install linux you dont need windows.

[@atmphil1]

@@referralacc1033how do you download it with out a OS?

[@dyto2287]

I think Mac is also a big competitor for developers. I switched to Macbook few years back but if new arm CPUs on laptops have good support for Linux I might consider going back to it. The only problem with Linux I had is that no laptops could last whole day without charging and some drivers do not work.

[@liamsoape2233]

​@@referralacc1033 prebuilts and laptops still come with windows for the most part

[@LoudRam]

Windows 11 on my new laptop drove me to Linux Mint and I love it. I'm not going back to Windows. I like my privacy.

[@STONE69_]

The problem on laptops, when you go from 10 to 11, is that Wifi keeps cutting out. MS does that on purpose, so you go like a little sucker to buy a new PC. But Wifi works on Linux just fine.

[@spxncer0910]

@@STONE69_I’ve never had that issue

[@STONE69_]

@@spxncer0910 well many people have had that issue. Its common.

[@ericwalker8381]

@@STONE69_ I have 4 systems on Win 11, no issues like that.

[@YannBOYERDev]

@@STONE69_ I hate Microsoft AND Windows but what you say is just... not true, when I was still on Windows 11 I never had any WiFi problems under Windows nor on my desktop PC nor on my gaming laptop... I use openSUSE Tumbleweed nowadays but saying false things just to make windows/MS look worse isn't good, MS is a bad company but not that bad, and if they really wanted you to buy a new PC I doubt WiFi cutting out is the good solution lol they probably do what they did with Windows 11 increase system requirements but that's it.

[@the1trancedemon]

Back in the day, I would get these linux CDs shipped with computer magazenes but never imagined hopping onto linux ever as I was too comfortable with windows 95, 98, Me, Xp etc. But then I got the feel of linux when some company I ended up working for, shipped me a Ubuntu based laptop. Ever since I started to enjoy Linux. As of today, one of the biggest things that push windows users away are those aggressive, intrusive and destructive updates.

[@prorace_type_r]

I am a big Windows user. But also I have used Linux in the past and I like it. Until recently, for normal user usage, Linux was a big PITA in my opinion due to installation of software. But nowadays, with Windows being so intrusive and shipping with so many bloatware, and given that Linux has evolved to be user friendly, the edge Windows had is fading.

[@robby3467]

Maybe, but it not pushing many is it? Work it out... Let's say the 0.5% increase in Linux market share all came from disgruntled Windows users, that's 0.5% from 70% at best. Some will be Mac users. Some will be new users. Some will be dual boot users etc. There are also those who are trying Linux due to the current scaremongering around Windows 11 or other reasons, who then switch back to Windows as I did and my son did, and he is even a Linux fan, but Linux does provide the required tools. So, not many Windows users are being pushed away.

[@robby3467]

@@prorace_type_r The bloatware scaremongering is a massive overreaction. So what if there are a few apps or services you don't use. Yeah, if you're short on resources, otherwise why worry? I have 16GB of RAM and my system rarely approaches the limit. Why switch to a whole new OS and suffer the pain of doing so for the sake of some RAM and drive space. Just asking because it makes no sense to me, yet it's a common reason for switching it seems.

[@PrairieRoseCoyote]

The fractured and chaotic nature of Linux is a great thing. It is what gives us the freedom. We don't need a top down structure. I've used Linux since the 1990's.

[@arthurwintersight7868]

The fractured and chaotic nature is what makes Linux immune to enshittification. If one distro enshittifies, there are hundreds of other distros to choose from.

[@shadowseek27]

out of 1, many. This is perhaps the most glorious thing about linux, perhaps the most important thing of it all.

[@giorgos-4515]

It is one of the major reasons tho that companies hesitate to support linux for their software.

[@arthurwintersight7868]

@@giorgos-4515 - It's a bad excuse. If your software works on Arch and Ubuntu, then it should work just about everywhere, and the tiny handful of places it doesn't, it's going to be a case of "almost nothing works for them anyways" - just make sure it works on Ubuntu and Arch, and you're good.

[@Hardcore_Remixer]

The lack of centralized control, that is. Basically all the benefits of a small government in country.

[@kroan49]

I moved to Linux back in March this year. I wont be going back to Windows

[@trajectoryunown]

Linux is going to have that 10% market share almost immediately after Windows 10 reaches EoL.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Again, I've no real interest in Linux penetration on the desktop, I use it for me because I like using it. But I am sure I saw the same comments when Windows 8 and 10 came out - and Linux market share (on the desktop) isn't 10% yet anyway.

[@Jeremiah59]

I am jumping ship now

[@gx1tar1er]

​@@terrydaktyllus1320i saw the same when Win 7 EOL

[@sergeykish]

Windows 7 had 25% Windows share on its EOL (January 2020) according to StatCounter. People would run unsupported for a long time. Still 3%.

[@perisemiotics3204]

@@sergeykish they always have and always will. The difference may come from MS abusing ads, sub fees and what not.

[@StdDev99]

Let's not forget that Desktop itself is losing popularity. The things average users used to do on desktops is being done on phones now so they don't even need a desktop or a laptop. Which leaves desktops for developers, video editors, designers, and generally people with more computer literacy who are more likely to try Linux.

[@ringo8410]

Linux should not be an exclusive club, but I also don't want it to get so big that it suffers the same pitfalls as a Windows. That isn't likely to happen since Linux tends to be a lot less centralized.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

It's not an "exclusive club", it never has been. You just have to want to try Linux and be prepared to put in time and effort to learning it - even we "experts" came into this world knowing nothing about anything. Let's say I am outside your home in a car waiting for you to emerge to give you a driving lesson. My job is to teach you to drive once you get into my car, not to also teach you how to walk from the front door of your house to my car - it's assumed you know at least that much already.

[@thesidneychan]

​@@terrydaktyllus1320 there is a subset of Linux users who are intolerant of slow learners. No one truly represents Linux, but it's unfortunate that some grouches create the impression of an elitist group. I'm glad that there are still people like you who are patient to guide new Linux drivers.

[@act.13.41]

@@thesidneychan I am of the mindset that I don't care if you are a slow learner. I just care that you want to learn. 🙂

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

​@@thesidneychan Training and education is not my main job but I have written and presented training courses on TCP/IP Internetworking, Linux and cyber-security to peers at work. I also try to help people in public life, including having run the occasional "Silver Surfer" clubs for older people to become educated in secure Internet usage. I don't have any experience of people who are not willing to put in effort to learn, but I think a lot of it is to do with face-to-face education where people have to come to a particular location at a particular time to learn - in other words, some effort is needed on their part, and that's a good thing. I admire any content creator like DT who creates content for people to learn from (even if I don't agree with everything he says) but I don't think a lot of people appreciate the effort that goes into making such content - it's common to see posts like "can you make a video about..." when you know they've not even looked at the video just posted or even said "thanks" to the creator for the time and effort put into making it. Thanks for you final comment, I appreciate it. One can be knowledgeable and confident in what one knows and does, but I remind myself that we all came into this world knowing nothing and we all had to learn from others too to get here.

[@ringo8410]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 Agreed with this too. There's a balance: newbies need to want to learn and those of us experienced in Linux need to have patience and want to teach.

[@martialboogieman5789]

I really love your statement: “[...] I think that's part of having Freedom. You can't complain about being given freedom and then complain about people exercising their freedom by doing what they want to” (although I deliberately left out the software reference). The train of thought applies to so many situations and is apparently incomprehensible to many people.

[@caylarabdk8389]

over the last 4 years or so, i tried to switch to linux some 10 times. there ALWAYS had been a software or two that i couldn't run and had to give up but a few days ago, i was able to run everything. it was actually easier than i though and i was trying to run it the hard way. i'm never going back to windows

[@hashem4806]

same thing happened to me first time i switched. If the thing you're doing is very hard then probably there is another way.

[@mgj8649]

I'm glad you finally worked it out! It seems that most people who experience trying Linux over and over again form a passionate hate for it.

[@miket.220]

Prob like most of us. I tried switching way back in the day, 2000 or 2001, with Mandrake Linux. Boy, Linux had a steep learning curve, even with the KDE desktop. Today, Linux Mint is as easy, if not easier, to use than Win10. Mint certainly is a lot more streamlined than Win10 and it couldn’t have been easier to install on my desktop.

[@plebisMaximus]

I've been at it for 7 years now lol. Still not there for me, and I doubt it ever will be. I'm not quite as optimistic as DT Linux will ever grow enough to attract the companies.

[@jerkov420]

Recent convert here. Switched from Linux last week, and easily one of the best decisions I made in my life (and I haven't made many)

[@hashem4806]

swithced from linux or to linux?

[@plebisMaximus]

Give it time before you say that conclusively. It's always really fun and cool at the start, then you start bumping into more and more things you can't do or are massively inconvenient to do. Not saying you're definitely coming back to Windows, but Linux isn't perfect.

[@BensoftMedia]

I'd been making "Year of the Linux desktop" jokes for nearly 2 decades, now here I am using it. In my case thanks to Proton, and Microsoft making Windows 11 so terrible.

[@Ralphunreal]

emulation isnt ideal, native is.

[@BensoftMedia]

@@Ralphunreal I mostly play Elden Ring at the moment and it runs better under Linux than it did on Windows 🤷‍♂️. On Windows the game would freeze for an entire 1-2 seconds each time I summoned someone, regularly hitched and stuttered when riding around the open world, it doesn’t do that on Linux

[@gruntaxeman3740]

What actually went wrong in Windows 11? I'm buying new computer for Debian installation but I'm considering buying Windows to secondary OS because I'm curious about copilot/AI integration. Just thinking is it worth it.

[@BensoftMedia]

@@gruntaxeman3740 Mostly minor annoyances that just keep adding up. How when you first install it, it nags you to subscribe to Office365, then to Game Pass, then you get into the OS and the start menu is filled with apps you didn’t install. At least once a month my PC took ages to log in because Windows would kick me back to the “Finish setting up your PC” screen because I didn’t turn on OneDrive backup. Every time I open settings it had a huge yellow banner across the top nagging me to turn it on. Dark mode felt half baked because you’d constantly get flashbanged by bright white dialogue boxes or windows that don’t do darkmode. Search was almost useless because it seems to predominantly want to perform Bing Searches instead of searching your Computer. I have no interest in AI and Microsoft is pushing it hard, they’re putting it into many of the programmes in Windows like Paint and Notepad. And Recall sounds like a privacy nightmare, it takes pictures of your screen every few seconds and stores them? I can already imagine the headlines when it inevitably gets hacked or leaked online etc and they’ve probably already got their apology press statement typed out. Yes you can disable many of these things but every time Microsoft released a major update they always seem to get switched back on.

[@Sezamn]

@@gruntaxeman3740 windows is heavy, not efficient, possibly a spyware, plus uhh you won't even get the copilot stuff unless you have an NPU.

[@davidkachel]

And yet, there sits Adobe, absolutely clueless in the corner!!!

[@mkedzier123]

Clueless? Even assuming all those values are right, Linux is still at only 4.5% of usage - still not worth supporting.

[@davidkachel]

@@mkedzier123 Funny, they supported Apple when their share of the market was even lower. Yes, clueless!!

[@mkedzier123]

@@davidkachel They supported Apple because, even though their global share was low, it had significant share in photo and video editing industries. It isn't so on Linux - their usage share in those industries is well below even that 4.5%.

[@Warlord_Megatron]

@@mkedzier123 you don't understand, Adobe needs to support Linux for people to come to it and not the other way around. You don't expect people to cross the river without building the bridge first.

[@mkedzier123]

@@Warlord_Megatron Don't expect company to build a bridge if there is no-one to pay them for crossing it.

[@youreyesarebleeding1368]

It's only a matter of time until Windows starts giving you a popup when it detects that you're downloading a Linux ISO telling you all of the "merits" of using Windows, just like Edge does right now when you try to install another browser like Chrome.

[@mgj8649]

I would love if Windows became "This exists so I can install Linux", in the eyes of many people, like what Google Chrome is to Microsoft Edge (even though both the browsers suck)

[@dldropper83]

would be pretty hard to do that considering how many distros linux has

[@mgj8649]

@@dldropper83 True. But it would be pretty simple to just target the most popular 5 or so distros. I don't know how legal that would be for Google though.

[@YukariAkiyama]

@@mgj8649Theres bajillions of linux distros, but only like 5 “beginner-friendly” distros

[@youreyesarebleeding1368]

@@dldropper83 Considering they already scan your files in onedrive and attempt to crack the passwords on encrypted archives, i wouldn't put it past them to make some program that scans the downloads folder and looks for any .iso files, and then looks inside of those for common linux system files, elf64, or something like that

[@thedreaming6446]

Everyone that wants to be free from companies constantly telling them that the hardware they just bought and put together themselves is actually their property because your running their operating system on it will move over to linux and, once they are settled down, they will enjoy every minute of it.

[@adjbutler]

we should convert all our family members to linux (if all they do is browse the web then they wont notice a thing)

[@mgj8649]

I've gotten our old family computer working again for my Mum who doesn't remember much about computers since I was a kid, and put PeppermintOS on it. It's easy to teach her how to use it, since all she needs is to use the web browser and view docx/pdf files & emails.

[@vadym-beep1241]

I already converted my uncle! He said he likes it and his old laptop is much faster!

[@Roxor128]

I'd switch Mum, except her printer lies in an annoying niche where it uses an older host-based approach to rendering that doesn't work on Linux. Or at least it didn't last time I tried. Until I can get that working, she's staying on Windows 7. It's the only thing holding her back. All the software she uses is open source already (LibreOffice, Firefox and Thunderbird, with the occasional dash of GIMP).

[@ericwalker8381]

".. we should convert all our family members to linux .." ..You're going to make your family members into androids?

[@fubaralakbar6800]

I've said something like this before: If Linux completely took over, I think things would look a bit like they did in the early 90s. In the early 90s, pretty much everybody had MS-DOS under the hood, but desktop appearances varied widely. You know, some people had Windows 3.1, some had bare-bones DOS, and some had a menu or other graphical interface like DOS Shell or Direct Access. So if Linux completely took over, everyone would have the same thing under the hood, or at least the same structure--there would be minor variations like different package managers and so forth--but desktop appearances would vary widely. You would have people with XFCE, people with Gnome, people with Plasma, etc. And I think that would be awesome. The 90s was a really exciting time for the computing world. Everything was new and growing, but everyone was so independent. It had a real sort of Wild West feel to it.

[@gaiusbaltar7122]

It's like rap/hiphop music of the nineties compared to today: no more creativity, no more independance, no more personality...

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Actually, it was a Commodore Amiga A1200 that was the first computer I used to connect to the Internet over dial-up modem, following a few years of using Amigas to connect to BBSes as well. Around 1993, I met the now-wife who was a qualified accountant and had a PC at home which was my first exposure to MS-DOS and the delights of Doom. At the same time, having worked as a techie in business telecoms and UNIX sysadmin roles, I had to go do a lot of Windows For Workgroups deployments on customer sites (usually call centres) and that's when I got my exposure to Windows. If anything, I found the mid- to late-1990's as a depressing time for a "computer hobbyist" like me because it started to look like Microsoft and Apple would have the whole computing ecosystem "sewn up" with their crappy systems - at which point Linux emerged (Slackware in my case) and my computing world became "bright and sunny" again. It has remained that way ever since. So I disagree with your core point because, if anything, it wasn't about "the same thing under the hood" because Linux was completely different to Microsoft and Apple anyway - the fact that I had work on UNIX for a while helped me accustom to it reasonably quickly.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@gaiusbaltar7122 You missed the "c" in front of "rap" - to me it's all just "karoake" with one bloke waving his hands at the camera whilst "not singing" over someone else's tune. To put it another way, as someone with Eastern European roots who quite enjoys accordion and violin-based folk music about sad ladies stood crying on hillsides waiting for their cossack husband to come home from the wars, as soon as I see some black rapper enjoy my "folk music" then I shall consider it a good time to maybe start listening to his.

[@Tvirus12]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 The world has embraced hip-hop, you can hear rap in every language from english, spanish, french, korean, chinese, and even in your area of the world, Eastern Europe. Russians, ukranian, croatia. there are rappers everywhere. There's a flavor of hip-hop for everyone, just like linux :-D

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@Tvirus12 I find it strange that so many people rave about these modern black rap musicians but completely ignore the wonderful music produced by black musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and countless other talented artists - not to mention the blues music of John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Albert King and, again, many others. Here's me as a middle-aged white bloke who occasionally listens to Motorhead and Eastern European folk music but probably knows more about the history of black music than the vast majority of these modern day rap fans do.

[@marcusohrvall3710]

Very unpopular opinion, GUI will be needed for the new people.

[@Professor762]

I don’t think that is unpopular, just a realistic one. I am not a beginner but I still enjoy a good useful GUI for 80% of my computer use. Command line is great but it all depends on your use case

[@KingKrouch]

In most cases, sans samba configs and such, a GUI is already accessible, at least on KDE Plasma. On GNOME or tiled window managers though, you're SOL.

[@dm8579]

Nothing beats looking at pictures through a terminal.

[@serqetry]

I think Linux is right where it needs to be with GUI. It's pretty much in the same place as MacOS now if you are using a DE like KDE. On MacOS you have to do just as much in the terminal for advanced config, yet no one is complaining that MacOS needs more GUI.

[@katanah3195]

​@@dm8579That kind of stuff is funny, and a good example of the sheer amount of freedom and customizability Linux offers, but not something anyone should rely on day to day.

[@MavikBow]

0:44 When you said let's go to 10 years ago I thought you'd start pulling up some old data from 2005 or 2008, but damn. 2015 really was 10 years ago.

[@JJFlores197]

Almost a decade ago. Unless you're from the future and living in 2025. But yeah I get what you're saying.

A Windows user since v1 but dabbled a with distros over the years. But now that I've retired from corporate and have 2 great laptops that don't pass the test to upgrade to W11 I installed Linux Mint Cinnamon 2 years ago. I've upgraded to v22 and love it. It's a great OS, and I've replaced all MS apps like Office 365 with linux equivalents and have no need to go back. Linux is a great experience and yes, I had to teach this old dog a few new tricks, but it's been relatively smooth. It's probably easier for me because I'm not a gamer, but I do audio, music, photography, and video. I really appreciate many in the open source community out there and here like you that share their thoughts, insights, and solutions. The biggest challenge was listening to all the opinionated and negative conversations about distros before choosing one. Again, I chose Mint, so now it's simple and I enjoy working in this environment and ignore the BS. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, but for now I'm getting things done and enjoying the tools.

[@moffichu9150]

gaming is almost perfect, I would wager you could run like 90% of games at this point a lot of the standout ones are either because of bias, or invasive kernel level anti-cheat that doesn't work on Linux Proton runs games at like only 10 FPS less on average than Windows, and usually games native to Linux run even better than Windows

[@Sezamn]

@@moffichu9150 i mean it depends, sometimes games thru proton work even better compared to Windows

[@miket.220]

I switched to Linux Mint a year ago and have no desire to switch back, or even distro-hop. Mint works beautifully and simply, does what I need and does it well. Can even do some light gaming via Steam/Proton.

[@robby3467]

Problem is for anyone who is a Windows application developer such as myself who uses MS Visual Studio, switching is a non starter. Linux can not match Windows in terms of tool or installed systems. It just doesn't make sense.

[@Skelterbane69]

I think we need to make people understand what distros really are. Either rolling or stable. I.e. just variants of arch and debian, for the most part. Otherwise, we get people who say they'll switch once steamOS comes out, or stuff like that. "I need a gaming distro", even though any distro can be that, easily. Making people less scared by "which distro to use" is the first step and then also getting them to understand that the terminal is completely optional nowadays.

[@MindCaged]

I've started to think of distros as just like modpacks for games like minecraft, just a collection of different mods for the base system that can radically change the functionality or look, and you can often still install mods from a different modpack if you want. And the different bases are like maybe different mod loaders in minecraft like forge/fabric/etc some mods are available for both but others aren't.

[@Skelterbane69]

@@MindCaged That's a good way of thinking about it

[@sergeykish]

Either popular distro would work. People say they'd quit smoking after ..., same with switching to Linux.

[@mikeunt44]

They all came from one, SLAX.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@MindCaged Now all we need is a good "mod manager" and/or "mod launcher". Yes linux has a ton of choice, but you are still very restricted by what you can do. It needs to be no harder than using Ninite or a minecraft moded launcher. You pick what you want and it is a one click install not a few hours of troubleshooting in the terminal.

[@damonomstead4765]

Just bought a System 76 Thelio. Count me in! Do not wish to use Windows at home any longer.

[@mserica6487]

Very nice... Gratz!

[@lloydbond13]

I'm jealous.

[@cacomeat7385]

I don't think linux ever will or should completely overtake windows, however I would NOT be surprised if it reaches or approaches 10% within the next decade. I think focusing on making it a solid third place option (even more than it already is) would be more than enough, an OS family for _everyone_ who values security and control above all else.

[@STONE69_]

10% would be perfect, we don't want to get to big. That would bring many problems.

[@jaxonswain3408]

I think it'll hit 10% within 3 years, judging by the rate that it's going.

[@stolenlaptop]

Outside of desktop use Linux dominates. It's only a matter of time.

[@travisharrison478]

I sure love his optimism, but I don’t think any of what he said is how it’s actually gonna play out. Proprietary brands are not gonna give up their proprietary licenses. If and when people like Adobe and Microsoft makes software for Linux, it will still be proprietary. They will also want a stable release cycle because if something that moves fast like arch breaks and it breaks the Microsoft/adobe/whoever experience, then that looks bad on the company and they don’t want that. For that reason, I think we will become less diverse and less fractured because those big companies are gonna pick winners to officially support. Somebody like Ubuntu with brand-name recognition will come out the clear leader in that regard. Normie‘s will default to whoever is the most officially supported and recognizable brand. There will always be true Linux enthusiast who are going to exist on the outer fringes with their own operating systems, package managers, and desktop. But for Linux to become popular, there will have to be one or two winners and the rest, well they’re just gonna get stuck exactly where they are now.

[@MegaLokopo]

The only way for that not to be the future, is if people start paying for their software, someone needs to feed the developers, and almost no one actually donates.

[@williammc6953]

It really doesn't matter whether Adobe or Microsoft's Linux software is paid, we just want it to be able to run, they have wine so they can do it without having to port to gtk or qt, simply using wine and its libraries.

[@AQDuck]

It's _good_ if it remains as open as it is today, but I suspect what is going to happen is Google pushing Chrome OS even harder and partnering with big companies to make ChromeOS-exclusive licenses that won't work on Linux (despite ChromeOS literally being Gentoo) and make ChromeOS the "industry standard" for non-Apple unix-like PCs. Last thing I want is for anti cheats to get joinked when we are so close to game publishers somewhat embracing Proton. And obviously the privacy concerns and all that.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Google has been pushing Chrome OS for 13 years now whilst Linux desktop usage has probably doubled from 2% to 4%, albeit that's not very much. So I don't think it matters ultimately.

[@AQDuck]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 They have been pushing it with low-powered machines and focused heavily on schools (which they have been very successful at). If they take Windows' current (slight) downfall seriously, they could push ChromeOS as a viable alternative for power users, gamers, etc.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@AQDuck As a Gentoo user it does pain me to know that such a great version of Linux gets turned into that ChromeOS spyware, don't get me wrong. I would not use ChromeOS in the same way that I do not use Google Android - I own a number of phones and tablets and they all run LineageOS with no Google applications on them. As soon as Google puts its customizations onto Gentoo to become ChromeOS or AOSP to become Google Android, what you then have is a surveillance device that you paid good money for but let Google take control of. That's not something I can put up with in my computing environment. Ultimately, everyone has a choice - "convenience" or "privacy" and I choose the latter. With that said, Linux and LineageOS become convenient in time anyway, so nothing is lost from my perspective. If you make the decision to use ChromeOS on that understanding then that is entirely your choice to make - but you do so at the expense of your privacy.

[@Irremnent]

On the bright side, if chromeos becomes a main player in desktop computers, we can stop using wine and instead make chromeos binaries work across linux distros-which would be a LOT easier.

[@AQDuck]

@@Irremnent What I'm concerned about then is that Chrome OS adds some "license DRM blob" or something to its kernel that would make it illegal (not immoral, just illegal) to use any software relying on it on Linux.

[@docopoper]

The biggest risk I see is that we have big corporations making walled garden ecosystems within the Linux ecosystem. That we'll see distros where users are sped on and have little control of their system just like we do now, but it'll be Linux under the hood. They may need to keep the kernel open source, but they could build a totally custom proprietary desktop environment and lock the ecosystem down from there. But ultimately, I still think if that happens we are in a better place than currently. At the very least it will help software compatibility for the people that don't use the walled gardens. And the transition to such a state will expose people to the free software movement much more.

[@pseudo9616]

This would still likely add support to other distros, and also competition would be healthy enough that it would never compare to MS.

[@F_Around_and_find_out]

Some malwares have 2 versions: one to deploy on Windows machine and one to deploy on Linux machine, usually the 2 are packaged together so either way it will hit one or the other. That’s the only thing I worry about Linux growing popularity, and worse since Linux was unpopular for so long, its AV is just one step above non-existence.

[@franktewierikholscher]

I think that "free" will always have the notion of buggy, not fully supported, not professional even when it is all that. There should we work on. When granularity is growing, there should be made a clever way to distingish between the distro's so there is a good way to choose the distro that most suits your needs.

[@MegaLokopo]

There needs to be something like Ninite, where you can pick and choose all the different parts you want without having to install the parts you don't want. That way everyone gets a distro that does exactly what they need and want it to do, and nothing else.

[@somnvm37]

this reminds me of a meme "Tell me, a FOSS believer, if free and open source software is so good, how is it that a free program made by hobbyists in spare time is slightly worse than a multi billion dollar equivalent made by professional programmers."

[@lloydbond13]

When your average user can buy a Linux Machine at their brick and mortar store they wont have to make a choice. They wont have to know anything about Linux distros. The manufacturers will sell machines for various tasks and pre-install a distro that is appropriate to the task. Probably even some Manufacturers like Dell or Asus will have their own custom distro. The average consumer will never even have to know.

[@beefglobb]

I think the downside of a popular Linux is less stuff would actually be free. Companies are obsessed with proprietary software/hardware and put a subscription on EVERYTHING.

[@r1n488]

FOSS would still be a thing Even if MS Office or the Adobe suite gets ported officially to Linux, the FOSS stuff will be still here and will continue to be developed Sure, if Canonical (just to name an example) wants to charge for Ubuntu, that would be just funny and I dont think a lot of people would stay on Ubuntu

[@ahmedfarah2930]

I could see myself transitioning from Ubuntu on my new System76 laptop to System76’s popOS because of the hardware and software integration, also I never really understood why on Ubuntu you opened the settings app and then you’re immediately slapped in the face with an annoying nudge to upgrade to UbuntuPro,

[@RedSntDK]

Exactly. And companies with proprietary software are extremely litigious, I'm imagining a company like Adobe would want the best possible DRM. I can already see them make deals with Canonical and an exclusive snap deal, which in turn forces anyone that wants to use Adobe products to use SystemD.

[@lritzdorf]

This is an interesting point, but the way I'd frame it is that we'd gain non-free software (as opposed to existing free software becoming non-free; this should be pretty infrequent). In my view, this is still a win - we get software that people want on Linux, and make it easier for users to switch to FOSS alternatives at their own pace!

[@l30n.marin3r0]

If people let them, yes

[@mbahmusalto]

As a linux user, it is embarassing to claim that linux more popular than windows. Where Linux only got 4% and Windows about 70%

[@pedromain]

if you consider Android and other applications.

[@bueukillustrator89]

I still remember having Ubuntu Lucid Lynx installed to escape the nightmare of hardware incompatibility to upgrade to windows 7 on my first PC. I was on my third year studying at university back then. Krita 2.2 and Inkscape was also another thing to learn. Now I switch back to Ubuntu and Debian after a long time sticking around with Windows 8.1 and 10 And discovering new experiences from distro hopping. All thanks to my dorm mate for introducing and teaching me linux.

[@Jeremiah59]

The way windows is going. Its Linux or die trying.

[@jakobw135]

WHEN will mainstream developers wake up then, and provide their software on Linux?

[@ericwalker8381]

There's no point for most to do that -- too many distros and each with their own desktop. Lets say there is 100 distros and they average 4 choices of desktops - that's 400. What they need is a few distros made easy to install, that runs most applications people need and are very stable. Maybe something like MX Linux or Mint or whatever in the default desktop. Few give a sh*t about the OS, they just want to play games, do business, social media, watch a movie or whatever. You don't boot up an iPhone or PS4 and want to drop to the 'terminal mode' to make a phone call or work on compatibility issues just to play a game.

[@jakobw135]

@@ericwalker8381 I see your points - but from the developers' angle, they need to justify the expense of putting their software on a particular OS. That's just not doable on Linux, so far.

[@ericwalker8381]

@@jakobw135 Which answers you initial point, "WHEN will mainstream developers wake up then, and provide their software on Linux?" with the last response, " but from the developers' angle, they need to justify the expense of putting their software on a particular OS. ". The Linux community needs to take the top one or two distros (on Distrowatch that would be MX Linux and Mint), choose the default desktop of each, and have a team reaching out to developers. If of the very tiny marketshare Linux has across countless distros and desktops they focused on just one or two it would be enough for some developers to justify the cost of a port into native code. Distrowatch has 100+ distros listed, some with 8+ desktops - where's the effort on applications and getting things done? Having a distro that is made to LOOK like Windows but can't run anything is just pi**ing people off. User harassing Windows and Mac users in other forums and not even having a better solution just alienates them more. The top distros do check many of the base requirements such as stability, driver support, and (somewhat) easy to install - they need to focus on native application support (using a GUI, no one in the general public wants to have to use terminal) past just browsers.

[@jakobw135]

@@ericwalker8381 Don't ALL the distros share something in common - the KERNEL! And won't putting in the particular system calls of an application, work across all variants?

[@pixels_per_minute]

@@ericwalker8381 As far as I know, you can just make a Flatpak version of your app and it will run on almost every Linux distro out there.

[@noam65]

The entire foundation of free software is the feedom to copy modify and distribute versions of apps and distros that better suit your needs and solve your issue. It's a feature, not a defect.

[@Redman8086]

Only problem is when you, as a company, release software on Linux, offering support is a nightmare because everyone's system configurations will vary so wildly.

[@noam65]

@@Redman8086 that's the point of snaps, appimages, the like.

[@skryvvara]

@@noam65 which hasn‘t become the standard, because the next one says he can do it better and now we have one more, flatpack. So which do you support now? Snap? Which many people hate? Flatpack? Which many people hate? Lacking Standards is what makes linux inviable for companies from my experience

[@noam65]

@@skryvvara for those companies they go with Red Hat, or Ubuntu, or other large corporate distro.

[@tigerscott2966]

Linux Mint is the best place to Start. Get a used laptop or PC. Install it and get busy. I've never had any problems with Mint.

[@TheSulross]

The Linux red line is almost a perfect linear upward slope over ten years

[@gwgux]

From a cyber security perspective, there's a few things I can think of that the Linux community is going to have to deal with: 1. Novice users - Linux for the most part is used by people with some level of tech savvy who have the common sense to regularly back up their data, not click on bad links, not open suspicious files, etc. Windows has a lot of novice users, who to this day, are incapable of breaking those bad habits that cause billion dollar cyber incidents for a company and get their identity stolen at home. Yes, we all know that Linux is "inherently more secure than Windows", but this statement is made by people who have the cyber common sense as well. Microsoft's answer is to limit choice and lock things down. We've all seen how this creates more problems than it solves, but that's their answer to it. The Linux community building these systems is going to have to come up with their own solution and it's going to be huge hot button issue far greater than people arguing over their favorite DE. I don't think the Linux community is really prepared or has the patience to deal with novice users who never learn. 2. Antivirus - This whole debate on whether or not it's needed on a desktop will re-ignite as more cyber attacks are launched against desktop Linux. It's common practice for Linux systems to be running antivirus on servers, email filtering appliances, firewalls, etc. However, people at home without those big network safeguards may need to start using one as more malware gets written for Linux. Granted distros can be made immutable, already have same repositories for installing software, etc., but depending on what the hackers figure out, I would expect the antivirus topic to come up again at some point. 3. Default settings - Not every distro enables a firewall by default. Not every distro uses app armor or selinux by default. Not every distro has graphical settings to configure these things available by default (or/and the graphical settings apps they do have suck). This I'm fine with and every distro SHOULD be different. I can set these things up on any distro as needed without issue. However, this ties into my point about novice users and also applies to the less tech savvy. For example, many gamers are tech savvy, but don't want to go through and harden their system if they buy a PC online or built it themselves. They just want to get it up and running and play their games. As Linux becomes more popular, the issue around default settings will come around again and again as people's use cases change and more people use Linux on the desktop for more different things and they're all going to need different defaults to get them up and running faster. I think there will be problems around this one. If distro A is really good for creatives to get their specific video and photo editing software running, but has terrible default settings for cyber security, it can create a problem. A lot of those content creators aren't going to be up to date on the latest recommendations for basic system hardening and could be taking their unprotected laptops to insecure WiFi networks at a convention or store and end up compromised. Content creators are the ones people see online the most. What if they go and say "Linux sucks" because they couldn't be bothered to protect themselves? My main thing there to point out with these three is mindset. It will need to change. Novices absolutely have to learn. If people have to learn some things to drive their cars to work, and abide by some rules (speed limits, stopping at stop signs, etc.), then people can learn a thing or two for their computers. Also, with great popularity, comes great responsibility. That means the Linux community will have to take a strong stand against the trolls that just want to stir up trouble and also be receptive to criticism and feedback on what is going well and not so well. Nobody can afford to be rigid and locked into their own world if Linux is going to withstand being the most popular desktop software. Each of these three points will be answered differently by different communities and that's fine, but we have to accept those differences and stop putting each other down for thinking differently. Don't forget, same systems everywhere is itself a cyber threat. Look at the damage that the combination of Windows and Crowdstrike caused for reference.

[@averagemamil4523]

I suspect that if Linux hits 10% market share - we’ll get Flatpak ports of Abode CC and Office 365

[@penguin2137]

i suspect that would be snaps, since the most popular distro still seems to be Ubuntu

[@Sezamn]

i think they would end up just using .tar.gz since it works on every distro. or just some weird installer like resolve

[@daffyduk77]

Can't see M$oft allowing Office on linux m/cs except as the online/cloud version. All about M$oft's control through Edge, Bing, Copilot & all the privacy crap

[@MegaLokopo]

I doubt it, they are clearly moving to be web based. Even their desktop versions work less and less without an internet connection.

[@Sezamn]

@@MegaLokopo wouldn't this be good tho?

[@Dragon_Slayer_Ornstein]

Once proprietary software companies start properly supporting Linux the usage will explode. If people support OSX with when it has ~10% then they will start supporting Linux at around that.

[@one_little_robot]

The big players don't care anymore, they don't make money on software, they make it on user data. We are also on the edge of a new era of computing with AI taking the place of an OS entirely. AI will make us what we need when we need it and the process will look more like interacting with computers in Star Trek with the downside being a 100% loss of privacy for using it. The growth you are seeing in Linux is due to the start of this shift. Those of us that value privacy and remember what it was like to have control of our technology are leaping for our lives to Linux. I was a windows user for years, I put up with it's crap because it was easy and widely supported. Now, microsoft has finally broke me and I'm adopting Linux, because I want to use my computer. Not be used by microsoft through my computer. I'm so very tired of every other windows version being a beta test I'm forced to endure because they crippled my ageing but still useful devices... probably because of some shady deals they have with hardware manufacturers making it impossible to run anything on a system thats older than five years. The entire OS is like some digital shanty town all nailed and wired together on top of crap that didn't work well from the start. So far, the biggest hurdle has been the learning curve but ChatGPT has been a great pocket nerd buddy and saved me days of outdated youtube videos and forum post searches for help. Hardware support has been better than windows, but yeah I can't control the obnoxious disco light on my mouse anymore, first world problems... on the bright side, I can use hundreds of dollars worth of audio and midi gear that microsoft decided was too old for me to use. The audio system is AMAZING, it gets out of my way and turns my computer into a modular audio environment. It's a dream come true and it feels like I'm just scratching the surface. Cheers!

[@plebisMaximus]

So you'll lament the loss of privacy due to AI... and then use AI funded by Microsoft to learn Linux. You know you can just use the Arch wiki and Ubuntu forums, right? Also, you're commenting all this on KZbin, owned by the worst company on earth when it comes to respecting privacy. Using privacy and control of your hardware is such a flimsy argument to see on major social media sites.

[@one_little_robot]

@@plebisMaximus lol

[@adina-the-nerd]

I just still don't think Linux is ready. I really really think we need a few more things.

[@CTSFanSam]

Next up (I hope): PC sellers NOT including Windows, thus NOT charging for Windows. Just sell an empty system, for the end user to install whatever OS they decide upon.

[@luizansounds]

Or, have pre Included a tool to install a Linux distro out of the box if the computer is booted without a OS, a trimmed down version of the kernel would do the job for That application

[@devilmaykry]

Been using Linux for 7+ years now, with at least a couple of years using exclusively Arch. But recently I've installed freeBSD on my Thinkpad, I'm falling in love with that currently.

[@skryvvara]

Understandable. I prefer BSD to linux although BSD is further away from a „viable Desktop“ for me personally than linux because it supports less software that I need

[@Nejprof]

I would more consider overthrowing macOS marketshare to be a long-term goal of century.

[@ExtremeNS3]

If Linux gains popularity, many Windows-only apps will have to being support for Linux.

[@GrdDog]

I have been working on getting my family members used to using Linux and what a challenge that has been; they hate change, They all mostly do the basic daily stuff and amazingly since I can set the GUI up to reflect a windows look, they have had zero issues. Now granted they only work on the surface, same with windows, so that is a little hurdle but nothing major. The major part is the gaming particularly World of Warcraft which I cannot get to run right and that is a game several family members have played for a long time; so a fix for that would tighten the usage big time.

[@fuzkforyou]

Man I used to play WoW 10 years ago and. It ran on Linux no problem. Also server was on Linux too if I remember correctly

[@GrdDog]

@@Flavor_Flav actually the distro that my ma, aunt and other like the most is Zorin OS it is so close to a windows mimic and the fact that I can set up Libre Office to match Micro Off is something that the user never even notices anymore

[@STONE69_]

Changed my family over to Linux Mint Cinnamon in the last year. Just saved me over $5,000 dollars. We will be using these i5 and i7 Computers for many many years to come.

[@ThatGuy.75]

The turning points for me going to Linux: -Since the Windows 10 update was "free", your information was sold off to data brokers. -The EOL of their products seems to be getting shorter as time goes on. -The fact that they are forcing their hand on hardware manufacturers to conform to what Microsoft wants. -Microsoft is making it harder for people to have that choice of what OS to run. -You are restricted to a licensing agreement that ties your hands. -The known IPv6 hole in Windows is a huge red flag that has not been addressed to my knowledge. -The increased compatibility of devices in Linux is making the transition a more viable option. -The resource management is improving performance when doing things such as running games. -Linux is truly an open book. I have tried freeBSD, RH (before they went to a paid model), Fedora, and now LM. I grew up in the age of DOS, I watched Microsoft go from having a good product to a product that is nothing but a cash cow IMO. The only reason I have Win10 is because I still have some things that I need to find a replacement for in Linux. I hope the market keeps trending towards Linux, I see a lot of potential with Linux, and I think competition is the only healthy option in the end.

[@mnky75]

Windows 12....Linux Edition. Telemetry and Non Telemetry (well, less) Edition. They won't be able to resist.

[@Big-Chungus21]

The best reality is where Linux becomes somewhat like Android. It becomes popular enough that companies can’t afford *not* supporting it, while the consumer gets to have a free, Open Source, highly modifiable OS. The difference is that Android had the giant monopoly of Google backing it to get it there, which means that it doesn’t really enjoy as many of the benefits of being Open Source (though, realistically isn’t as big of a deal for a mobile OS). If Linux becomes the mainstream OS without essentially being ‘owned’ by a company like Android, we would be living in the best reality. Our best bet is a ‘snowball effect’ where say, at 10 - 20% marketshare, it becomes really beneficial for companies to release their software on Linux. This in turn makes it more usable for different types of people, increasing marketshare further.

[@xard64]

Microsoft is steadily moving towards the mainframe model where you pay everything by the hour and practically own nothing. I find it bit ironic considering that the original thing which made Windows so popular to begin with was the breakup from the IBM dominated mainframe model computing.

[@meggrobi]

Being a committed Linux user for personal use and in commercial arena, to say Linux desktop is "exploding" is really an exaggeration. The graph shows Linux is almost indistinguishable from the X axis. Now do I think it would be better for Linux Desktop to have a significant share, yes. To expand 1% in the total market is not and explosion. Windows is not the moneymaker for MS that is used to be, and the forays into the Linux space by MS are very interesting. I would not be surprised if MS made Windows apps run on Linux as they want to move to data and cloud products and leave maintenance with Linux OS, just a thought.

[@Johan87577]

Perfectly okej. Let's not gatekeep.

[@jasondrake6279]

Longtime Windows user, just changed to Ubuntu this week as my daily driver. I am keeping Win10 for games on a separate drive, just in case, but not doing any other personal stuff on there. I was going to wait until Win10 official support stops before I jumped ship, but it seems like every other week, Microsoft is cooking up another scheme to collect more of your data, force more ads down your throat, and have more control your experience ("Let us do the thinking for you, user, we know best"). Eager to get to know Linux better and leave Microsoft behind as much as I can!

[@Soccera0]

once linux becomes too popular to have security by obscurity I'm moving to BSD

[@psybertao]

I don't agree. Most people don't give two shakes of a lamb's tail about freedom, those that do have already made personal sacrifices for it. If people do actually leave Windows the likes of Ubuntu is waiting with open arms, Snap packages, established branding, and a willingness to sell the proprietary software users are told they want.

[@MarcPagan]

Nice overview - from one who supports free choice .. and runs Kubuntu, Zorin, and Windows, on separate PCs. FYI - $4.10 USD on premiumcdkeys for a Windows 11 Pro license. Great option for those of us who tinker a bit on an old PC or two. Nice to have Linux and Windows options for virtually the same price, nothing or next to nothing.

[@CommanderKappa]

Or 0$ if you use the massgravel activation script for windows

[@kevinalberto8593]

One of the things I noticed is that more people are more open to try Linux, now that Microsoft is ruining Windows. I honestly was a Windows fanboy all my life, so seeing it is sad, but it also gives me hopes of a future with open source software being more predominant that closed source one.

[@dupdrop]

Unfortunately it's because Windows is getting worse, not Linux getting better...

[@sorig1373]

As a linux user, it is getting better. A lot better.

[@catharsis222]

Takes a while for word to get around.

[@blakeyhatcher]

Agreed it's becoming more popular because Windows is getting worse. But that doesn't mean Linux isn't getting better.

[@aeternalis]

Linux is getting better. Just in the two years I've been using it, it's gotten better.

[@damonomstead4765]

Linux is absolutely getting better. That's a wild comment lol

[@MegaLokopo]

People need to stop pretending that all drivers are included, because they aren't, steamos doesn't even have any printer drivers from what I can tell. Yes most of the time they are included, but we shouldn't fall into the trap apple loves of "it just works", because when it just works most of the time, no one puts in the effort for situations where it doesn't "just work". One thing windows does well, that I wish linux mint did as well, is there is a more options or more info button or link on nearly every page. Open up the driver manager on linux mint, I see no info on how to get more drivers or if there are any more drivers that I need or that I might want.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

I could care less whether or not it becomes popular - in my home computing environment I've been in my own "Gentoo bubble" for 21 years now (and still enjoying it) and work-wise it has just been Red Hat (Enterprise) servers for about the same amount of time. I help people with Linux when they ask me - if they need a system to start playing with, I usually install Mint or Ubuntu for them and get them started. I also get involved on various Linux discussion forums but I've recently got access to a venue near to my home, so my plan is to start a Linux and Raspberry Pi meet at some point in the near future. I may get to a point where I video some of those live talks and presentations at meets to put on a YT channel (I don't have one currently) but I really have no interest in making Google a dependency for my financial well-being - they can stick their ad money where the sun doesn't shine! But if it works for DT or other creators, so be it.

[@mkedzier123]

Google was against open source software? Since when? All their products are based on open source - if it didn't exists they would have actually had to pay developers to create software for them.

[@paulkemp267]

Linux overtaking Windows is as likely as my bank account overtaking Elon's. I love Linux. I also like reality. Linux overtaking Windows is not reality, IMO. Google has been throwing money at this fantasy for a couple of decades now. Doesn't look like that's working out for them.

[@itsasecrettoeverybody]

The problem with Ms office is not that libre office isn't good enough, there are companies extremely dependent on Ms office integration with visual basic for scripts. I think everything could be possible using python with libraries for office files, but you know how hard it is for corporations and industries to change what is already working.

[@joaov777]

Linux has been getting better but it still a niche thing. Not everyone wants to deal with packages, terminal prompts, etc.

[@halfsourlizard9319]

That doesn't even make sense. Windows and macOS both ship with term emulators ootb ... normies can safely ignore them.

[@KingKrouch]

It's really not that much harder when you consider that the Microsoft Store, Steam, and Winget are unironically the only things that make using Windows not completely irredeemable by being tedious as hell. Debloating scripts brick your system after updates, and you're better off yar-har'ing the LTSC IoT edition of Windows and using an activator script to activate it. And the registry isn't a great place to be storing settings, at all. There's a ton of reasons the Steam Deck, handheld PCs, and HTPCs are infinitely suckier when you set up Windows on it. Anyone saying they'd prefer to hunt down installers on Google for five hours every time they're forced to set up their system again because Windows Update bricking something unintentionally yet again is frankly a lobotomite.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

"Not everyone wants to deal with packages, terminal prompts, etc." Then you should stay away from Linux. In the same way that if you only know how to drive a car with an automatic gearbox, you should stay away from one with a manual gearbox. Why does the whole Linux ecosystem have to move to you because you can't be bothered to move to meet it? What else are you expecting Linux people to say to you here?

[@ringo8410]

terrydaktyllus is too abrasive to newbies. It's good to learn some of the more important terminal commands (e.g: man, mv, cp, ls, rm) so that you have a basis of understanding, but it is not necessary to use the terminal full time in order to use Linux. It's not even that necessary to mess with package managers like apt when a lot of distros have a Linux equivalent of "Windows Store" where you can download software (for free).

[@joaov777]

@@KingKrouch Agreed. Winget has made tech-savvy individuals lives a lot simpler. I haven't really heard of any situation in which an average user would have the knowledge to open a terminal and install winget and download it from there, though.

[@somnvm37]

One of the best descriptions of how it feels to use gnu/linux/xorg/*distro was "windows users say it's hard to use linux because instead of opening some shady website and loading 200 screenshots to copy every mouseclick, we just copy commands in the terminal"

[@user-rk6ir8cq6p]

I started my student life using Linux, then forced over to Windows. Now I can pickup on Linux again and prepare for retirement. Good times.

[@sherrilltechnology]

Oh my goodness 4.5% that makes me very happy!! Great video I use Linux for most of my things at home, that is also why I started a KZbin channel as I want to see many more users embracing Linux!!!

[@fredh3603]

I think you missed another huge point: The increase of browser based software solutions such as CRM, DMS, employee time tracking, project time tracking, ticket systems, collaborative systems in general and many, many more. Installing client software becomes more and more obsolete. As a result these OS independent solutions drastically reduce the hurdle of migration, too.

[@four-en-tee]

This is both a good and bad thing. On the one hand: its great to see people wanting to move away from proprietary software after the Crowdstrike shit. On the other hand: get ready to see more malware targeted at Linux distros. EDIT: the ability to fork distros is why Linux has lasted this long.

[@0x97B55C23D18]

Something to note about the fragmentation is that it's the software equivalent of "There is no perfect pasta sauce: there are only perfect pasta sauces," as Howard Moskowitz's work demonstrated in the food industry. Distros tend to have major variation in how quickly they update from upstream releases; if they use specific release versions or rolling release; and attempting user-friendly, user-centric, or system-simplicity design goals. I think it would be a loss if that was flattened.

[@beambreaker300]

If you really want more people to migrate, it needs to cater to the less tech savvy people, which would include things like selection of desktop environment on first boot, a unified packaging method and generally speaking a baseline that is identical across all distros that are being preinstalled upon purchase. While the abundance of distros and possibilities is truly astonishing, it is the opposite of what the average person expects, most people want to buy something and want it to just work out of the box without much tinkering. This is a very fair thing to ask for but is the polar opposite of what the current community is striving for and believing in. To clarify, again, I am not saying that we need to dumb down things and remove/streamline options, but rather deciding on a base package hardware is delivered with and all the choices and options we have now will stay available for people who are interested in it. We can’t expect everyone to dedicate time to learn and configure their own OS. That’s the harsh reality check

[@databug]

Ive wanetd to switch to Linux for a long time. Ive been tinkering with Linux since the Mandrake days. I couldnt mainline use Linux because Im a gamer. But with the arrival of the Steam Deck and Windows just becoming so horrible I switched around the beginning of Covid and Im at the point now that I have no intention of ever going back. In that time Linux went from around 2% to over 4%. So thats a near doubling in about 4 years. Id like to see Linux reach about 10%. I think this is very achievable in the next few years. So yes completely agree with you. I wouldn't want Linux become mainstream it just needs to be big enough to get attention from the big tech companies.

[@erroneouscode]

Mandrake was the first Linux distro I played with as well. The days when they often used to include Linux distro's on PC magazines for free. People that dabbled in it then running windows 95-98 etc as main OS had a different skill and mindset. Gamers particularly often had to edit dos files to get games to run on windows. People have become lazy and expect everything to work out of the box. The fact that people don't want to learn how to take control of their OS is exactly why Windows has become such a privacy invasive mess. If they're holding back to adopt Linux because some huge corporate software doesn't work on it they better be careful of what they wish for. Once big tech becomes involved we will have a lot of closed sourced software doing god knows what under the hood and eventually Linux will be just as bad as windows with regards to privacy and security.

[@RunePonyRamblings]

Big Tech isn't embracing open source because they see the success of Linux, they're embracing open source because their business models have shifted from software sales (which OSS renders functionally impossible) to web/cloud services and ad-surveillance.

[@user-S853]

2:30 Security. Linux will need better security once it becomes popular.

[@xFluing]

A thing i kept hearing over the years is that 5% is the "point of no return" in terms of market share. Once something reaches at least 5% its there to stay

[@WeencieRants]

When Linux becomes mainstream I’ll move to FreeBSD ;)

[@gx1tar1er]

Good for you but god no don't bring these fickle+hypocritical Linux users, open source enthusiasts, privacy conspiracy theorists into FreeBSD/BSD. Leave it alone peacefully & don't wanna make it become tribal.

[@daviddunmore8415]

We've been Microsoft free for the last 15 or so years - after some initial distro hopping, we used Mint and PCLinuxOS for quite a while, now we use Debian 12 on desktops and Laptop.

[@davidedgar7338]

Everyone uses it. Daily. TV box, fridge, phone... Desktop Linux used to be the 1% club of geeks, but now.... Each flavour has its own fan base and purpose.

[@johnstath9666]

I’ve only started using Linux in the last couple of years on a regular basis. I thank DT for his initial advice when I began. I’ve never looked back at Windows. Email after some updates becomes a little testy but generally Linux performs really well. It certainly changes your lazy habits requiring you actively update and backup.

[@CrucialFlowResearch]

Hell no, corporations should have no say in banning open source developers. Whenever that happens, i consider the project a lost cause.

[@tonykeltsflorida]

I don't need to pay sub fees for software. It is good to see that Linux is getting more desktop users. I don't think that Linux needs to worry about competition. FOSS is working. All Linux needs to do is keep moving forward.

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

Anakin: I don’t think the system works. Padme: How would you have it work? Anakin: We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what’s in the best interest of all the people and then do it. Padme: That’s exactly what we do. The trouble is that people don’t always agree. Anakin: Well then they should be made to. Padme: By whom? Who is going to make them? Anakin: I don’t know, someone. Padme: You? Anakin: Of course not me. Padme: But someone. Anakin: Someone wise. Padme: It sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me. Anakin: Well, if it works… Some people really should think about this before they speak.

[@VitharPL]

I think, that mass fragmentation of Distro world is actually a good thing. Competition means progress. More distros also means bigger choice - what in some cases might stir a trouble for newcomers - but overall, might help create more options suited for certain PC usage scenarios (like we have Garuda or Nobara suited especially for gaming). As long as there are certain things working similar way Linux-wise - distros aren't the problem. Higher popularity of Linux might also attract bigger players like Canonical, Red Had and Valve. For sure not every company will stick to FOSS idea selling not OS but 24/7 support services, or having biggest game shop in the world and offering own devices utilizing Linux-based OS. There probably would be some company trying to sell actual Linux based OS licences, but the market will verify. Higher popularity might for sure attract more toxic people, but also more helpful people (like the host of this channel). Gatekeeping is still a thing in the Linux world, and it shouldn't be. We need more people answering the question "How to switch to Linux" with "Give Ubuntu or Mint a try, then you will see if it suits you" rather than "Learn the f*kin terminal first noob".

[@brents2500]

Arch has been my main OS at home for the past several months and it's been awesome. Gaming on Linux has also come a long way recently! No better time to switch. Need a specific Windows program, spool up a lightweight Win7 or Win10 vm in VirtualBox.

[@derekgibson1870]

I picked up an old HP Pavillion 17 in. laptop (2007 model) a few weeks back in "mint" condition, has only 2 Gb ram. It had Linux Mint 20 loaded on the hard drive and I was pleasantly surprised how well this laptop functions. I loaded LibreOffice 24 and Opera browser, so far so good. Still learning but very encouraged

[@Audulf-of-Frisia]

I'd switch in a heartbeat from Windows to Linux if only I could be certain all my peripheral hardware would work and all my software would work. WITHOUT messing with Linux.

[@STONE69_]

If you are enslaved to proprietary software and certain Drivers, don't bother. You will always be like that, its your nature.

[@erroneouscode]

Some people just have unrealistic expectations in life. There is no certainties and you don't even get that in a Windows system. You just get better odds that things play nice together and will work. If you don't have patience and a willingness to occasionally learn a little and mess with things then Linux is not for you and never will be.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@erroneouscode As someone who uses linux and windows, there is far more tinkering in linux. linux doesn't even behave properly with plugging in and unplugging multiple monitors. Luckily it fixes itself with a restart, but that was never necessary for plugging in a monitor on windows.

[@erroneouscode]

@@MegaLokopo As someone that uses both you should have come to terms by now and learned the differences and timelines involved in bringing identical functionality to Linux. That will never change. There's going to be delays reverse engineering drivers and software and having it filter up the chain to be provided in repos as stable. We the user of Linux are often required to do just a little bit for ourselves (tinkering) rather than have everything handed to us on a silver platter at day one. This Linux vs Windows debate is always down to lack of understanding and applying a Windows familiarity and mindset to Linux. Linux is a perfect OS and I would argue an even better one than Windows for people that just want a boot loader for their browser to do ordinary mundane daily things. When you're talking multiple monitors etc etc you're getting into the territory of being a power user etc. Tinkering is part of the process of that. It wasn't all joy getting multiple monitors to work on Windows either in the past. Patience and a willingness to learn something new is a necessary personal attribute to use Linux beyond mundane tasks and a lot of people just don't have it.

[@securelinuxchannel1519]

I teach Linux to my students who were work on windows . I teach them how Linux works and better than windows , I like if in India all schools and collages support Linux desktop, and they will teach students from the beginning

[@paulconnolly4483]

I remember asking some commercial software vendors about Linux about 2 years ago. “ The problem with Linux is that we don’t have a single standard desktop or distribution to develop for, it’s the same issue we have with FreeBSD”

[@pixels_per_minute]

I can't speak for what issues different desktop environments may bring, but apps shipped as Flatpaks work on almost every Linux distro regardless.

[@paulconnolly4483]

@@pixels_per_minuteI think the issue is the cost of development and support for the different types of desktops . With windows and MAC OS they have standards. I’m not saying anything against Linux, it’s just reality for commercial applications.

[@anotherinternetlurker6248]

The loss of security through obscurity is my biggest negative. If linux market share rises anywhere close to windows', we'll be seeing a lot more attention from malicious devs to the point that some of us might need a proactive antimalware solution constantly running in the background to reach a new standard of security. At most I hope linux market share never goes beyond to the likes of macOS.

[@mirzu42]

Linux will never be mainstream unless the most popular games can be played effortlessly on linux. I use linux more as an hobby than as a main OS.

[@nathancochran4694]

So funny story. I was working on dual booting with garuda linux/windows 10. I don't mind windows 10 so much, but I was planning on doing the full switch when 10 was retired. In anticipation, I was distro shopping, and I installed Debian a while back. I left it for a while and kind of sorta forgot about it, and then decided to shop around again and fell on Garuda for its gaming support. I was working on deleting my Debian install, and due to negligence, ended up deleting my windows 10 instead. I lost a lot of files and learned a painful lesson in having backups. On the bright side, I inadvertently forced the change on myself, so I think it will be good in the long term anyway. So there, some free Schadenfreude for you, reader.

[@SomeGuy_GRM]

I've been trying to main Linux off and on for about a decade. My last holdout was getting VR to function. I managed to get it working last weekend.

[@korvoid]

Oh, the mythical year of the Linux desktop, finally coming up (probably around circa 3248 AD)

[@FreshMootz]

Google docs and sheets are so much easier to use so my biggest need is gaming. It’s becoming substantially easier for me to use Linux

[@configurine]

YES! over the year i’ve went from win11, to dualbooting win11/arch, to arch only on bare metal, and windows only as vm when absolutely necessary, as where it belongs:)