Year of the Linux desktop let’s goooooooo!
It’s been moving fast. It barely moved like a decade ago
I’m surprised Bazzite isn’t higher on the list, here, it really seems like the OS I hear about whenever Linux gaming comes up.
I switched to Bazzite based on a recommendation and it’s been a fantastic OS for me (gaming and light development/home labbing) and I no longer have any desire to distro hop.
Took a bit to figure out the immutable stuff for some very niche things I needed done, but other than that ezpz
Without having tried it, I think Bazzite fits a certain user group very well, but is less suited for other users. Which is fine.
I don’t really see how it’s particularly good for homelabbing, but use whatever works for you.
I don’t really see how it’s particularly good for homelabbing
I’m assuming by that he meant as a distro for his personal PC that he uses to SSH into his home lab or access the web interfaces. Not to run on the servers
This is correct.
I didn’t pick it for home labbing as a primary as I mostly use that machine for gaming, but just to show how well it works overall as a general purpose OS. I did end up switching over to their Dx branch for updates so that helped for some of that stuff as well.
The person who replied to you is correct. I meant as a machine to write scripts on, manage servers, etc. I do agree though Bazzite probably isn’t the best for everyone, but that’s what is great about Linux, there is a OS for everyone
That list is just weird and only shows a few specific distros. If you go to the Linux only results you get way more info. It shows Bazzite as used by 5.53% of respondents, +1.29% from last month.
Ah, that makes way more sense. Nearly 6% of the gaming Linux market for such a new distro, and rapidly growing, sounds much more like where I would’ve expected Bazzite to place, based on my own experience and the tune of most recommendation threads here.
Agreed. Ive been active in a lot of Linux communities for a good while now, and I’ve never seen a single distro being recommended as much as Bazzite. Mint was probably the closest, but it’s always had detractors due to its stable base affecting hardware support.
I think it was more of a fad for a short while, but there are a lot of other much more entrenched and mainstream distros
Bazzite has been one in a LONG line of Trendy Distros Of The Month. People have been trying to make CachyOS happen, Zorin has made a couple appearances, ElementaryOS and Pop!_OS traded blows for awhile, Nobara was in there, a long while ago there was Peppermint, I’m forgetting a lot of them.
Feels like youre really diminishing Bazzite’s popularity here. Ive seen it regularly talked about here and in a lot of YouTube videos for around a year now. Its also currently used by 5.5% of the Steam Linux player base (you can see by filtering the results by Linux only), making it one of the most popular distros for gaming right now. Also, CachyOS is just ahead of it at 6.74%. Definitely not flavor of the month numbers imo
CachyOS is attempting to fill the same workcase as bazzite and does it better. Which is the real problem for bazzite.
And cachyOS is basically just a gamer preset for endeavour. Since all the arch based distros kinda suffer from the same problem in differentiating themselves by just being glorified presets of all of the same thing. Which is both actually a rather good boon but also a bit of a problem with being a gimmick or a flavor of the month. You just kind of pick an arch preset to start with and go from there.
Of course manjaro being the weird one out.
Like if you’re just looking for a straight up preset up one button, go gaming distribution. Cachy and baz both are trying to be that same workload. But cachy just does it better with less weird quirks and issues.
Not to mention they’re both trying to be distribution so you can just put on a steam deck. And again the cachy option just has less issues and quirks.
But cachy is fighting against stupid outdated memes about Arch so it just won’t ever really catch on. So even as a flavor of the month distro, it struggles to really ever reach true fad territory.
While bazzite easily can reach it since it doesn’t have to deal with a decade of misinformation spreading memes.
I honestly think for most people atomic systems should become the default, so I’m team bazzite right now.
It just feels like they need to get over decades of bad app/file hygiene to improve.
I’m convinced Atomic systems are going to be useful in a lot of applications but I’m not giving up a typical Linux system for my main computer yet.
I have just run into such an insane amount of problems with atomic distros. The thing is that you don’t know it will be a problem until you start having a need for the functionality
I still daily drive bazzite, but embedded programming, wireshark (constantly breaks upgrading on atomic fedora), any VM that had to connect to the LAN, any sort of document signing, key management, using any sort of government ID software like Belgium’s EID to log in on a web browser, and much more is very difficult with most of the examples being dead in the water and will apparently never be attempted to be fixed.
It works great for most people, until they need to do 1 thing outside of the mainstream and it falls apart. Hell, there is literally no documentation at all on how adding a user to a group is fundamentally broken (fedora’s fault, not bazzite) and you have to copy groups manually from a non-documented file to /etc/group.
Atomic distros should replace Chromebooks and managed work/school computers. They shouldn’t replace personal all-purpose computers.
This graphic is just a bit misleading, and the more detailed results show the opposite story. Bazzite is as 5.53% of Linux users, up 1.29% from last month and one of the most used single distros, behind SteamOS, Arch, Mint, and CachyOS.
bazzite is bringing in new users, not converting old ones.
True, I think that’s usually the case for most distros. Most users aren’t looking for a reason to swap from a distro they’re comfortable with.
Source?
The page linked in the post. Click the drop down to filter by Linux only.
Also Mint gets a ton of traction here too.
I’m on Bazzite because I use my PC at the TV with a controller these days. It’s simple to use for that. That’s pretty much it.
It’s a fad at best. And immutable distros are awful outside of extremely ridged use cases.
It basically is just a worse version of normal fedora or cachy OS.
It tries to both and successfully does neither job as well.
Why do you not like immutable distros?
I’m asking as a long time Mac user, just tried Linux this year, and have settled on atomic fedora and bazzite, so looking to learn not imply I know more than you or anything like that. I’m just very sold on them and the ostree idea.
See the problem is that you’re a normal computer user and not one of the 3% that actually like the experience that is the traditional Linux desktop.
Somehow that does not help me know what I’m missing.
My point is you’re not missing a damn thing.
Basically, traditional Linux allows you to mess around every part of it and even completely break it if you weren’t careful enough. This is really great and powerful for people that knows what they’re doing, but for 99% of users, the ability to change the underlying operating system is not really necessary.
Thanks. That’s fair, I mostly don’t want to deal with that most of the time (I would if I had a spare computer)
Is that not possible while still having an ostree, or is that just because the ostrees are all basically just fedora?
Gatekeepy bullshit.
Bazzite is great, and immutable just means some things are done slightly differently, that’s all.
Immutable distros are perfectly fine for 99% of use cases and are far less likely to be broken by and end user following poorly made guides on the internet.
It gives the "it just works"Ness that a Linux gaming distro for Linux noobs needed. (So far anyway)
Love to see it
3.2% is like 5 million active users if Steam overall has 156 million active users, but they’re likely higher than that
Some of us still duel-boot
duel-boot
Sounds dangerous! :)
That’s what happens when Windows overwrites your grub
Linux mint 21: loses a little
Linux mint 22: wins a little
my brother in christ. they just updated their pc
Importantly, there was a net increase in Linux users and a net decrease in Windows users.
Still increases in other areas ☺️👍
Gaben embracing Arch has been great for Arch in general. I can’t even remember the last time my Arch install crashed.
Now that you’ve mentioned… Knocks on wood
Been using Arch for daily driver, web server, large data analytics machine, gaming, music making, programming, visual design and a while lot more for 15 years now. The only time I’ve had an issue with something in the official repos was when freecad was compiled with a version of a library that wasn’t compatible with a very specific thing I wanted to do and I had to recompile it. That’s it. 15 years. One issue. Not sure that even this Gaben fellow could improve on that…
Thanks for the users, Microsoft!
It’s time to make Microsoft hurt. Let’s go!
awesome!
I’m curious as to how much profit is lost by M$ or Apple for each basis point of the market that switches to Linux.
These are private computers for gaming with Steam installed. This will literally be less than pocket change to them. They likely lose more from pirated Windows and secondhand purchasers of Apple products.
The amount of money tech giants lose will not be affected for a long time. The main achievement for Linux right now would be to get a foothold, to make it known to the public, to normalise its use. The big change will come when organisations start moving to Linux (which you would think would be a priority considering the fact that it is free and more secure).
which you would think would be a priority considering the fact that it is free and more secure
And regularly used across their back end already.
Probably needs more corporate spyware which Linux users aren’t likely to tolerate.
They make more on cloud servers than as operating systems nowadays.
I’ve read the same thing but I’ll bet a dollar that no one using Linux is paying for any Microsoft cloud services.
That would essentially mean the only reason to use Linux over Windows is ideological opposition to Microsoft, which is sheer nonsense.
Some people use Linux but don’t mind about Microsoft
Ex: a lot of people in computer science
I noticed a lot of students use Linux for their studies because in CS we pretty much only use Linux, but they run Windows at home or they solely run Linux for studying so they don’t care about the rest
They would’ve stayed with Windows if it provided the same features and full compatibility
As a somewhat side fact, most of Microsoft’s own cloud services are running on Linux. This fact nudges me to believe the opposite of your conclusion. That is to say, changing your OS doesn’t necessarily change the software you use.
That said, I would be very surprised if Microsoft’s cloud offerings were as popular among Linus users.
Till that number starts hitting like 15% because these are just private users. These big companies aren’t even going to be able to notice the shift.
We are already at >7% for English-speaking Steam users. At this rate 15% isn’t terribly far off.
But, even now, it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell your manager “we should lower our product’s sales by 7%”.
Apple probably isn’t seeing it as a factor. Anyone switching from MacOS to Linux on Apple hardware has purchased Apple hardware and will likely continue doing so because they’re the kind of people who buy Apple products and you can’t change that about a person.
Of those Windows users switching to Linux, how many of them have decided to stop using a Windows license they’ve had for years? Instead of upgrading to 11 for free, they’re switching to Linux? Or, how many of them are rocking the Activate Windows watermark? There’s probably a pittance or two lost in ad revenue, but Microsoft almost isn’t a B2C company anymore.
Apple probably isn’t seeing it as a factor. Anyone switching from MacOS to Linux on Apple hardware has purchased Apple hardware and will likely continue doing so because they’re the kind of people who buy Apple products and you can’t change that about a person.
When they are ready for a new computer, are they going to spend double to buy Mac hardware when they specifically want a Linux machine? Many will say no.
We’re at a point in history where an Apple computer is kind of difficult to recommend as a Linux box because they’ve pulled off of x86. Gaming. On Linux. On Apple Silicon. I bet you can do it, the Asashi or whatever people have done a remarkable job of reverse engineering from no published documentation at all from what I hear. But, we’re several generations of Apple Silicon in, I imagine the people who have jumped ship for Linux have done so by now, leaving the blue bubble brigade to themselves.
Remember, to many people, that Apple badge on the lid of that laptop isn’t just a billboard for a company you don’t own, it’s the badge of an in-group. There are entire states in the union where they won’t let you buy food if you’ve got a Samsung phone. It’s now government policy in Israel.
3% is insanely high for those of us who remember the early 2000s. I am loving this.
3% is insane.
I am not a “year of linux” huffer. The majority of the population doesn’t even know what a filesystem is, much less (for example) how to get to the BIOS setting they need to even install linux.
But 3% is absolutely a threshold for “viral social spread” amongst those that can.
It’s like damn look how good the general Linux desktop got with barely any general consumer adoption for about 30 years. Imagine what it could get around ~10%. 20 years ago Mac’s were only around 5%. I love gaming on Linux but my main thought is how this is the trojan horse that brings users and some funding and developer attention to open source applications. Kdenlive needs love. Ardour needs love. Darktable. Get them all the Blender treatment someday
I think it really depends on your definition of what counts as year of Linux. Will Linux usage ever beat Windows or Mac? Of course not. But it can definitely get popular enough that companies have to think really hard about whether they need to support Linux or not. And meanwhile, Linux isn’t going to get popular overnight (or in a year, for that matter). So do you consider the year of the Linux to be the end of growth? Middle of growth? Or beginning of growth?
For me, I think year of the Linux desktop already passed in 2021, with the launch of the steam deck (where I’m defining year of Linux to be the point where Linux usage picks up and will hopefully end at a point where companies have to take Linux seriously)
I consider the “year of linux” when OEMs ship it in laptops and desktops, in volume.
In other words, it’s when I see several linux laptops in Best Buy.
Sadly, we might ‘miss’ that window. It seems like regular folks are moving to tablets, phones, and Android PCs for home use. Business will be stuck on Windows forever. So it appears the future we’re barreling to is iOS/Android for the masses, laptops (mostly) as pure workplace machines, and then the PC gaming sector essentially depreciating Windows and migrating to (in delicious irony) Windows APIs on linux.
I like how all Arch based distros are in “quotes” by the way.
Right? It’s oozing with sarcasm, like—ArCh LiNuX
lmao
I think it’s because they’re including steam os which is an Arch derivative.
Linux use on steam has also passed mac use. The three most popular mac versions are still used by more than the 3 most popular linux versions, but the total for macs is under 3%.
And for me personally, I didn’t even have to give anything of value up to make the switch. I kept my old windows machine in a running condition as a backup, but I think I’m about ready to start retiring that machine entirely, at least as a windows machine.
It’s okay openSUSE Tumbleweed. I still stan for you. ;P
openSUSE is GOAT.
I’m a CachyOS shill, and I’d recommend Tumbleweed to anyone. It’s criminal that folks use stuff like Ubuntu or Manjaro over it.
I chuckled when I saw Manjaro of all things on there, and not my beloved OS of choice! lol
For real, though, openSUSE is truly something to rave about, as far as I am concerned! :)
Now that zypper has been pulled into the modern age with parallel & faster downloading, the only complaint remaining I have for it is the installer itself
I kind of liked the installer, but that is because I am a huge Fallout fan and liked the black with green theme you could use when I installed it about a year ago… I am but a simple person… lol :P
Really wanna try a perma switch from Fedora just cuz they include a nice grub theme lmao.
Plus I like that its proper rolling instead of staged releases.
Even though I think it’s generally frowned upon to use, I use GRUB Customizer from the Discover Store, and change the theme to a Fallout style one, if that would be easier for you to use!
I’ve had one or two hiccups when updating openSUSE Tumbleweed. Once was just a normal update, back then I was doing it weekly since I basically only game on my desktop, but it completely broke my graphics for whatever reason. I have an NVIDIA GPU, so I attribute it to that.
Luckily, Tumbleweed has that snapper component, and I used it for the first time. Absolutely amazing I could just run that and then be back in a working state at the shake of a lambs tail. I just started updating monthly after that, and so far, no hiccups!
I think there is a real change in people’s mind . Windows is at it worst since forever. Just this month 2 people in my inner circle just ask me how can they Make the switch and which distro should they use for their needs. Those 2 were hardcore Windows fan and gamer.
I also had a friend ask how to install Linux or where to buy a computer that has it preinstalled. It’s getting out there.
