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Linux Usage on Personal Computers Exceeds 5 Percent in North America

posted by janrinok on Monday October 19 2015, @05:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the upward-trend dept.

"gewg_" writes:

With another of his graphs derived from StatCounter data, blogger and Linux advocate Robert Pogson reports

It was only a few years ago that the sycophants of M$ were trumpeting that */Linux was struggling to reach ~1% share of the desktop anywhere. Many of those were in USA.

Well, the chickens have come home to roost in The Year Of The Linux Desktop. */Linux has ~5% share. Are we there yet? Nope. FLOSS is still going places and growing stronger every year. Classical GNU/Linux grew rapidly until mid-year when Android/Unknown and Chrome OS took up slack. It's all good.

I would have said "He who laughs last laughs best" but, hey, it's his blog.
...and remembering how Chromebooks dominated the sales figures last Christmas, I can't wait to see how the SteamBox sales go this Christmas.

Previous: Given the Choice for Christmas 2014, Consumers Chose Linux
Big Jump in Bahrain: Linux Now At 16 Percent

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:13AM (#252200)

    RMS has a point. It may have been hard to see back when Linux was useless without GNU. If you were running Linux, you were also running GNU.

    But now, the largest Linux distribution is not using GNU, and thus logically you cannot expect people to guess that you are talking about GNU/Linux when you say Linux. And by design, this distribution is very different from GNU/Linux. Due to these differences, being specific has become important.

    No, I'm not talking about systemd (they still have some way to go before they have replaced everything). I'm talking about Android/Linux.

  • (Score: 2) by NickFortune on Tuesday October 20 2015, @10:37AM

    by NickFortune (3267) on Tuesday October 20 2015, @10:37AM (#252230)

    So let's call it "Linux/GNU".

    If all RMS is interested in is maintaining the distinction, then I'm sure he won't insist on first billing. I mean it not being an ego thing in any way for him.

  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday October 22 2015, @01:57PM

    by Pino P (4721) on Thursday October 22 2015, @01:57PM (#253224) Journal

    Even though Android has become more popular than desktop GNU/Linux, there are a few differences:

    Source compatibility with UNIX
    GNU/Linux is designed to run ports of applications designed for the UNIX system. Android isn't.
    Multi-window window management
    Desktop versions of GNU/Linux include X.Org X11 (a non-GNU component) and either GNU Window Maker or another window manager that allows overlapping windows. Stock Android's policy has been stuck in "maximize everything" mode for years, even when a device is paired to a mouse and keyboard and has a display several times larger than a 5" phone screen. Who wants a calculator that fills the entire monitor?
    Development on device
    A wide variety of powerful software development tools run on GNU/Linux. On Android, there's AIDE, and what else?