The key point is that Europe's governments are ditching MS one by one. One of the state governments of India, that of Kerala, is also fostering a local chapter for open source and Linux.
this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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That's a thing, but the biggest thing is that PCs as a class have been falling in numbers. As media consumption devices, they're outmoded. Phones, tablets, and cheap smart TVs have taken their place.
A typical family of 4 might have 1 laptop for when one is actually needed, whereas a few years ago every member of a suburban household would have their own computer.
So a larger part of the market is enthusiasts and techies, who are more likely to be using Linux, and gamers, who are using devices like the Steam Deck and Legion Go that run on SteamOS.
That is an interesting take.
Surely the largest source of laptops is still for work though, many bought by the employer.
Things will really take-off if Linux hits 10%.
Actually, if it hits 10%, I think it could go all the way.
Been working with linux for the last 2 years. Had to use windows for my laptop for work but now its a full linux mint machine
About to be 6.0000001% when my Kubuntu download finishes. I'm finally taking the dive boys, linux on main here we go.
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Damn Linux becoming mainstream. How will I feel like a superior tech elite now?
GNU HURD.
Lots of “elite” distros to use. No need to ditch Linux.
Switch to BSD
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Only use TTY
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SteamOS, Bazzite, and the Plasma DE I think are what's driving Linux to be more popular. They are all very streamlined experiences.
I tested Gnome and KDE Plasma5 in the last year. KDE Plasma is in my opinion the first DE which is comparable with Win/MacOS. It looks modern, is pretty much feature complete and as an average user its nice to have useful apps preinstalled (calculator, libreoffice, firefox and so on), but no bloatware.
Its just a bit more customizable than windows, which is perfect and also not fiddly and a pain. It certainly has a handful of quirks, like Windows does, but you get used to them.
If I have to set up elderly relatives with a computer, I'd strongly consider a KDE Plasma Desktop
The preinstalled apps are not a feature of KDE (or Gnome, XFCE, etc.). Actually they all are structured in a very modular way where you can use or omit individual components. Firefox and LibreOffice are completely independent of it even; they merely add compatibility layers to make the integration more seamless.
What you experienced was something to attribute to the distribution you chose. They are the ones to decide which components to bundle and preinstall. That is also the reason why so many distributions exist in the first place, because different teams/devs have different visions about what the desktop should look and feel like after install.
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Chaotic Good Billionaire does a solid for Linux, Windows users devastated
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As a daily Linux user, this makes me VERY VERY happy!!
Most technology adoption follows an S curve, it can often take a long time to start to get going. Linux has gradually and steadily been improving especially for games and other desktop uses while at the same time Microsoft has been making Windows worse. I feel more that this is Microsoft's fault, they have abandoned the development of desktop Windows and the advancement of support for modern processor designs and gaming hardware. This has for the first time has let Linux catch up and in many cases exceed Windows capabilities on especially gaming which has always been a stubborn issue. Its still a problem especially in hardware support for VR and other peripherals but its the sort of thing that might sort itself out once the user base grows and companies start producing software for Linux instead.
It might not be enough, but the switching off Windows 10 is causing a change which Microsoft might really regret in a few years.
The desktop has been Microsoft's to lose for 30 years...
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A long time ago when Linux was around 2-3% someone said that macOS adoption by software companies happened when it got to 5% of the marketshare.
If Linux continues down the path, we might see real support from some of the holdouts.
Before anyone says to use an alternative, sometimes there are not workable alternatives.
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When it gets to 7%, is that when there is more malware designed for Linux desktop ?
There is already plenty of malware targeting devs on Linux where is it's strongest userbase.
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A king once summoned a wise man who had done him a great service and said, “Name your reward.” The wise man replied, “Your Majesty, I ask for a simple thing. Give me one percent Linux desktop market share for the first square of the chessboard, two percent for the second square, four percent for the third square, and so on, doubling the amount for each of the 64 squares.” The king, thinking this was a modest request, said, “Surely you jest! Such a small reward for such a great service? Ask for gold, land, or jewels instead.” But the wise man insisted, and the king agreed. The king ordered his treasurer to calculate the total. Starting with 1% for the first square, 2% for the second, 4% for the third, 8% for the fourth… by the time they reached the tenth square, they needed 512% of the desktop market. The treasurer, pale with realization, informed the king that by the 64th square, they would need more market share than could possibly exist in the entire universe of computing devices. The king then understood that what seemed like a humble request was actually impossible to fulfill, and he gained a new respect for the power of exponential growth.
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Jumped to Bazzite never looked back. Let's goooo
Wow it was 5% yesterday
at this point linux will have more than 100% market share by next week!!!!!!!!
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Does it count that I have four computers running Linux because I can't help myself?
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But it is only in the US and not globally. Anyway, competition is good.
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Hang on though, if it's web stats, how many of those impressions are ai bots scraping training data claiming to be Firefox users?
Don't those likely read as Linux from how they fingerprint on TCP connections?
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