• Eugenia@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Linux also surpassed 10% in my country, Greece (10.72%).

    I prepared a couple of old laptops I had around recently, to gift to my niece and cousin, and I put Debian with XFce in both of them. Worked great. And I think that’s why Linux is big in Greece. Consider that when someone buys a car here, they use it until the end of its life. Very rarely they sell cars to get something new. The average car is 15 years old in Greece. I think that’s the deal with old laptops and computers too: people try to extend the lives of their machines.

  • const_void@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    I’ve never understood how this is good for Linux. Why is having more users so important?

    • markus99@lemmy.worldOP
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      10 months ago

      More users means there is more interest from private companies to reach these users and to port their software/products to Linux. Ie Adobe, Games, AutoCAD Suit, etc.

      • const_void@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        But why do we want more proprietary software running on Linux? Wouldn’t we be recreating the same situation that Windows has?

        • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
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          10 months ago

          But why do we want more proprietary software running on Linux?

          You’re right, there’s downsides for the FOSS community, but it’s much better for many individuals.

          Usability, accessibility and privacy for a user is better when any proprietary software, that they cannot avoid, can at least run relatively sandboxed inside an OS they have control over.

          Wouldn’t we be recreating the same situation that Windows has?

          Good point, but thankfully, an open OS mitigates these issues a great deal.

        • jollyrogue@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          Proprietary software is one of the last anchors holding people to Windows or macOS.

          Ideally, people would switch to FOSS alternatives on a FOSS OS, but proprietary software on top of a FOSS OS is better than FOSS software on a proprietary OS.

          Also, people are going to charge for software in some form or fashion. The economic model would need to change in order to allow people to develop software without any economic motives.

        • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          The difference is that, with a base FOSS OS, you’re not locked in to an flavor you don’t like. Dislike the way Ubuntu is headed? Switch to Debian, Pop, or Mint and use the same exact programs you’re used to. If you dislike Windows 11, you’ve only got a few years before you’re forced to switch to it. Makes it much easier for them to force shitty decisions.

          More adoption of Linux also means more incentive for FOSS projects to support it. Yes, it also means more proprietary software, but the truth is that most people don’t care what kind of software they use as long as it works for them. At least Linux can’t become beholden to the demands of that software.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          There’s also more chances of FOSS being developed for Linux if more people use it. FOSS is better the more popular it gets.

          • const_void@lemmy.ml
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            10 months ago

            This seems like wishful thinking to me. Is there any data that supports that with more users comes more FOSS developers?

            • jollyrogue@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              Bigger platforms attract more devs.

              The BSDs don’t have the dev resources of Linux simply because Linux has a much larger install base.

              • scratchandgame@lemmy.ml
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                10 months ago

                The BSDs don’t have the dev resources of Linux simply because Linux has a much larger install base.

                Really?

                I don’t think OpenBSD is as funded as Debian but it could maintain software like OpenSSH (even the portable version for Linux and Windows); LibreSSL (still not much used, but funded because of this), OpenSMTPD.

                But OpenBSD can maintain its ports which in my opinion is relatively large (no update for -release, sorry :) ). And base. For so many hardware platform. Even VAX until 6.9

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              I’m not sure you need data to understand that if more people use a product, there’s a greater chance someone will develop FOSS for it, as FOSS developers tend to also be users.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      You’ve never understood how support works? It doesn’t matter that it’s harder to find apps that work on Linux than windows and Mac? It matters less to me than most people but it definitely still matters

    • LeFantome@programming.dev
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      10 months ago

      I would certainly benefit if more hardware supported Linux out-of-the-box.

      Many people will benefit if that one key application they need is supported on Linux.

      We all benefit from the paid developers working on Linux. The number of such people are linked to the profitability of Linux for companies which is a function of popularity.

  • Catsrules@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Hold on here how is Linux Desktop beating out chrome OS? Don’t get me wrong I am totally onboard with Linux winning over chrome OS. But I just don’t believe it.

    I can got to any local store right now and buy a Chrome OS computer. I can’t say the same for Linux.

      • mrshy@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        I don’t know but it might be inextricably linked to Googles content servers or reliant on services in such a way that it can’t simply be stripped of the telemetry in the way VSCodium is for example.

        • jollyrogue@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          ChromeOS uses a custom display server for the moment, but Chrome + <random Linux distro> is pretty similar. 🤷🏽‍♂️

          ChromeOS is moving to Wayland as their display server, to make it even more of a standard Linux install.

      • Catsrules@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        I know technically ChromeOS is running Linux under the hood but it has been so bastardized by Google that it looses the spirit of Linux that it shouldn’t be consider the same thing. At least in my opinion.

        • jollyrogue@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          I’m not sure about that. Android isn’t Linux for those reasons, but ChromeOS is much, much closer to a regular GNU/Linux distro. They’re even switching to Wayland from what I’ve heard. 😄

    • Wes_Dev@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Not sure, but I’ll say that if you use ChromeOS, you’re much more likely to buy special hardware (Chromebooks) to run it on. Not many people download ChromeOS to run on their pre-existing computers. But you can just slap Linux on a toaster if you really want to. Even more, Valve’s Steam Deck comes with Linux by default, and that’s basically a desktop with touch and gamepad controls in mind.

      I just wish the culture around open source gave more back to the people working on the software, even if it was just businesses. I think we’d see even more delevopment and support if the one guy making a critical driver for some obscure device that only power plants use, could take a vacation or quit his day job.

      People around the world depend on open source being freely available and shareable. But if you’re making millions of dollars a year, I think it’s only fair to give some money to the people making your profit possible.

      • Catsrules@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        Not sure, but I’ll say that if you use ChromeOS, you’re much more likely to buy special hardware (Chromebooks) to run it on. Not many people download ChromeOS to run on their pre-existing computers.

        That is my point. Normal people are not downloading any OS and installing it on their computers. They are going to the local big box store or online store and buying a computer and using whatever that OS is preinstalled. In my neck of the woods those options are Windows, OSX and Chrome OS. There is no Linux computers at your local big box store. And I am sure you could find a Linux computer online if you specifically searched for it but Amazon is going to put the Linux computer on page 500 if you search for “Laptop”

        Valve’s Steam Deck comes with Linux by default

        Yeah the Steam Deck is the only thing the came to my mind that mainstream people would get that would have Linux pre-installed. However I can’t imagine it is the steam deck is selling anywhere near the numbers to what Chrome OS computers are selling and also these numbers are based on web browsing. Are people using their steam deck to browse the web? I have a Steam Deck and yes Gaming is amazing on it however if I am being honest the desktop experience is terrible I don’t know how they manage to make the on screen keyboard suck so bad. I would prefer browsing the web on my phone over the Steam Deck. The only way I would browse the web on the Steam Deck is if it was fully setup with a Mouse and Keyboard and External monitor.

        Granted this is all just based of my single experience and small corner of the world view point. Maybe Linux is poping off in other parts of the world like in India with a huge population base.

        • Wes_Dev@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          Oh no, I got you. I was kind of looking at if from another angle.

          You normally can’t buy a machine with desktop Linux pre-installed, but you can with ChromeOS. Despite that, Linux has a bigger market share. I think part of the reason why is specifically because ChromeOS is so limited and intrinsically tied to Google, that people who do things like install new OSes avoid it like the plague. Google’s push to satisfiy shareholders and build walled gardens is the reason their desktop OS isn’t being used.

          I’ve installed Android in virtual machines and played with x86 builds on bare metal. I’ve installed Linux on Macbooks, desktops, servers, and handhelds. I’ve tried out BSD on network shares and other little devices. I’ve never done anything like that with ChromeOS. It holds zero appeal to me, despite being easily purchasable at a retail store.

  • njordomir@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    With MS enshitifying Windows at an ever increasing pace and the hard work of open source developers, volunteers, advocates, to make Linux better and more approachable, I won’t be surprised at all to see that percentage move up.

    “You mean its free and doesn’t try to sell me other products the whole time I’m using it?”

    • Aurix@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      There is the psychological factor that Windows behaves more like malware with their forced full screen overlays to shove the Edge into your ass. Over and over again. Microsoft doesn’t take No for an answer like an abusive partner.

      • njordomir@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        You put words to the feeling I get whenever I turn on my work PC. It has relatively little to do with my actual work. It’s the dread of the psychological abuse of everything asking me to update, upgrade, and look at how cool our AI is, try all of our other products, share your opinion, etc. etc. etc. I would be twice as productive if they let me BYOOS (bring your own OS) and if my day to day tools were Linux compatible. There are best practices for this kind of thing, but many of the most “reputable” tech companies willingly disregard them in favor of mind games and dark psychology.

    • FoxBJK@midwest.social
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      10 months ago

      And Microsoft keeps enshitifying Windows because they know they can get away with it. So many businesses are backed into a corner and have essential parts of their business that are only compatible with Microsoft’s tech. They can’t switch, they won’t even entertain the idea (much less the time/energy required to test it out). The folks at Microsoft know they’ve won. I won’t be surprised when they make Windows 12’s compatibility even more egregious than 11’s.

  • Deckweiss@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Don’t panic, thats just me running it on PC, laptop, worklaptop, pinenote, pinephone, steamdeck and in multiple VMs for experimentation.

  • snaggen@programming.dev
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    10 months ago

    But is the desktop really the most relevant measurement? Wouldn’t it be more relevant to talk about “primary” devices? When I grew up, the desktop was what people used to connect with Internet and everything that comes with that. Hence, Linux on the desktop seemed to be relevant. Now, that is still relevant in relation to work and gaming, but for general use people use other devices. So instead of “on the desktop” I think we should talk about “for work”, “for gaming” and “for programming”.

    • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Exactly.

      As usual, the geeks in this forum are completely out of touch with reality. I say that as a Linux user of decades.

      Desktop stats matter less than ever because ordinary people do not buy desktop computers any more and will do so even less in the future.

  • Dagamant@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    This year I went back to 100% Linux for my computers. I’ve kept my primary PC with Windows just for games but with the advancements that Proton has made to WINE it hasn’t been necessary. The only thing I miss in being able to use Affinity Publisher and Designer on the computer and not just my tablet.

    • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
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      10 months ago

      Same here. Thanks to Proton and SteamDeck, things have reached a point where I can find plenty of things to play without keeping a Windows license around.

      • Dagamant@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Last time I did it was 2008 or 2009, the only game I played much was World of Warcraft and it ran great under WINE at the time. I don’t remember exactly why I switched back to windows back then but it was probably games. I know I needed it when I got my VR headset back in 2016 but it’s been a while since I sold that. I don’t know if Steam VR works on Linux or not, I want to have a headset again.

  • anon987@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    StatCounter statistics are directly derived from hits—as opposed to unique visitors—from 3 million sites, which use StatCounter, resulting in total hits of more than 15 billion per month.[5] No artificial weightings are used to correct for sampling bias, thus the numbers in the statistics can not be considered to be representative samples.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    on an unrelated note, people who squeeze in what os they use to every conversation also rises to 4%.

  • Halano@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    I’m carious how they monitor linux desktop users maybe by web agent ?

          • geoma@lemmy.ml
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            10 months ago

            Its more of a niche. You probably won’t have the huge support you have on gnu/Linux nowadays

            • scratchandgame@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              “gnu/Linux nowadays” is unusable on old hardware (except distros like Alpine) I think?

              • geoma@lemmy.ml
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                10 months ago

                There are a bunch of distros focused on old hardware compatibility. I often install Linux on 32 bit laptops from around 2008 and they work perfectly

          • flying_gel@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            It’s not necessarily better, some things are a personal preference. Though some might be able to list some technical pros and cons.

            Some things I appreciate are:

            • base systems and packages are completely separate. Packages and their configuration goes in /usr/local/ No where else. (Thought they might write to /var/ )
            • bsd init, not systemd. Feels more home to me as a late 90s slackware user.
            • first class zfs support. Linux has caught up lately, especially now that there is a shared zfs codebase for both Linux and FreeBSD. When I switched to FreeBSD on my home server ~10 years ago that wasn’t the case.
      • scratchandgame@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        That research is much easier than figuring out what is computer’s “stack” without using my first language!

        • exhaust_fan@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Dude I’m a beginner struggling to learn Linux because there are so many options, so few good explanations, and people like you only want to patronize me

          I just want a tldr