921
Linux continues to be above 4% on the desktop
(www.gamingonlinux.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
921 points (100.0% liked)
Linux
47766 readers
706 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
To be clear, you're arguing that (considering the increase in population) desktop computer ownership per capita may be falling?
If the amount of windows users decreases and linux stays the same, linux market share increases. Meaning, linux use is not rising, just windows is falling. Slight but important difference.
5 linux and 5 windows users. 50% market share. If one windows user drops, linux has 56% market share although the amount of users didn't change.
But yes, desktop per capita is probably decreasing as well.
If they're moving to smartphones, that's still (mostly) Linux.
But it doesn't count as linux. Usually you mean GNU/Linux if you talk about linux. Chromeos may be considered linux for the sake but android?
Android uses the Linux kernel, so it is Linux (but not GNU/Linux). This isn't just semantics - Android has a UNIX-style filesystem, shell scripts, etc.
It's not semantics. People refer to GNU/Linux as Linux. Anything that isn't GNU isn't meant by the people. It's not my fault this is fucked up. We both know that it is linux and that it isn't what people understand if someone talks about linux.
But I'm that case if Linux gets 1 new user and windows gets 10 then proportionally Linux usage would decrease despite the absolute number increasing.
I would argue the absolute number is meaningless because without context that number has no value. If I tell you there are 3.4 million Linux desktop users does that number actually tell you anything? Not really. You don't even know if it's a lot or not because you have no frame of reference. 4% already has that frame built in and gives you an indication how Linux stacks up to other desktop OSs.