Linux

Was gonna ask if this stat included the Steam Deck, as that's also accounting for the vast majority of Linux gaming numbers. Whether it does include the Deck or not, it's a nice rise, but all the better if it doesn't include the Deck. I wonder if the popularity of using Linux on the Raspberry Pi is helping too.

How is the PineNote coming along?

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.

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.

Sorry I've been reinstalling my computer about once a week.

GUYS, IT'S HAPPENING

I know it's a joke, but where did you get that number? If it's at 3% in January and 4% in February. Either it's a flat 1% increase/month or an increase of 33%. How else can it be interpreted?

I use arch btw

Just wait for VeganOS to drop.

Uh, most apps are still for Windows. That's why so many people use it.

If you tell someone to use an alternative OS, but then they are left on their own to run alternative versions of apps that don't work the same, forced to give up features they are use to, or run dozens of different programs through Wine or Proton or emulation or virtualization or whatever, JUST BECAUSE "Microsoft bad", they're going to laugh at you and go right back to Windows.

It's taken Linux 30(?) years to make it to 4%, and a lot of that is recent because of games. It's still a niche platform.

Stuff just works on windows, I have a proxmox box with some Linux vms to run containers and I've tried several times over the last 20 years to move to Linux on my main pc but there are just too many faffy bits.

I really dislike what windows has become, it's bloat ware that's getting worse and worse, but I begrudgingly use it as I can be productive, the moment I can be as productive in Linux I'm off of windows, but even simple things like drivers are often not as good, lots of commercial software has barebones or no Linux support, there are many different package managers (on one hand great) but some have permission problems due to sandboxing when you need something like your IDE to have access to the dotnet package, also as a developer building apps/libs for Linux is a nightmare.

For example if I make an app for Windows I build a single binary, same for mac os, for Linux it's the Wild west, varying versions of glibc various versions of gtk and that's the simpler stuff.

Anyway I REALLY WANT to like Linux and move away from windows to it, but every time I try its hours/days of hoop jumping before I just end up going back to windows and waiting for windows to annoy me so much I try again.

(just to be clear the annoyances I have with windows are it's constant ad/bloat ware, it's segregation of settings and duplication of things, it constantly updating and forcing you to turn off all their nonsense AGAIN)

I use both. Sadly, I have lots of software that doesn't work (or works pretty bad) on Linux. I love Linux, but there's no denying it can be frustrated, specially if your hardware doesn't support it, and that applies to too many people who has no saying in the hardware they use.

So in what world? Corporate world, science, CAD modelling...

Probably a good chunk of it but admittedly it helped me feel confident in using Linux as my daily driver on my desktop. Nothing drives adoption like being able to play video games.

It's so good that it counts as an upgrade.

I use Debian btw