Linux Hits 3% Desktop Market Share (gamingonlinux.com) 141
According to Statcounter, the Linux share on the desktop has passed 3% for the first time. GamingOnLinux reports: While it has been close a couple of times, the trend according to their stats is pretty clear that Linux use has been slowly rising over the last few years. This does not include ChromeOS, even though it's based on Linux, as they track that separately so this is just plain desktop Linux.
Across this year their stats show for Linux:
January - 2.91%
February - 2.94%
March - 2.85%
April - 2.83%
May - 2.7%
June - 3.07%
Across this year their stats show for Linux:
January - 2.91%
February - 2.94%
March - 2.85%
April - 2.83%
May - 2.7%
June - 3.07%
Yesss! (Score:5, Funny)
The Year of Linux on (3% of) Desktop is finally here! (party emoji here)
Re:Yesss! (Score:5, Funny)
The Year of Linux on (3% of) Desktop is finally here! (party emoji here)
At 3%, it officially turned the corner from irrelevant to beleaguered.
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The Year of Linux on (3% of) Desktop is finally here! (party emoji here)
At 3%, it officially turned the corner from irrelevant to beleaguered.
Sorry--my bad. I turned on my old Linux laptop that's been sitting in the closet for a few years. I guess I bumped us over the top.
Re:Yesss! (Score:5, Funny)
At this rate we'll have captured the entire market in little over 650 years!
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I guess ...
* 100% of the Top 500 supercomputers [top500.org] in the world and
* 85% of mobile devices [truelist.co] (Over 2 Billion Mobile devices)
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Please. The topic is "Linux on (3% of) Desktop".
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GP's comment is relevant because it is in fact used on most of the machines that aren't desktops and laptops, and the latter are used primarily as thin clients for the former.
I've used it on desktops for 25 years.
But there certainly are issues that prevent it from being more widely used on desktops and laptops, and by non-technical users. Many of them beyond the Linux community's control. For instance:
* Hardware support can be spotty especially for laptops.
* It is harder than
Re: Yesss! (Score:2)
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Re: Yesss! (Score:2)
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Sorry you had that experience.
I believe keyboard shortcuts can be assigned to any XFCE display element or command.
https://www.unixmen.com/how-to... [unixmen.com]
If it is unable to shut down your computer regardless of keyboard versus mouse, it is possible that there is a permissions issue. I think I've run across that once or twice, and fixed it with the help of a Google search. I don't remember details. But possibly the following page might help.
https://askubuntu.com/question... [askubuntu.com]
Its been coming for a long time (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Its been coming for a long time (Score:4)
Meanwhile, my Windows 10 install from 2016 still works without a hitch on my main machine.
And yes, before you ask, I do have an old eeePC with Mint and a few Linux VMs, not to mention my server and a host of Pis. Linux-based OSs in my house exceed Windows installs 5:1. Still, my daily driver is Windows.
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Meanwhile, my Windows 10 install from 2016 still works without a hitch on my main machine. And yes, before you ask, I do have an old eeePC with Mint and a few Linux VMs, not to mention my server and a host of Pis. Linux-based OSs in my house exceed Windows installs 5:1. Still, my daily driver is Windows.
I use Windows, Linux, and Unix (MacOS) on a daily basis. 99 percent of "futzing" is to repair problems is on Windows machines.
Although lately it's been a lot of playing about with RPI's as I'm learning device control programming, and the Pi has a nice GPIO.
Daily driver is MacOS though, it gives me maximum uptime with minimum futzing
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My take, in the end it's a matter of what you are most comfortable with.
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That's not to say that everything is perfect on my Linux system, but it sure beats the pants off Windows.
Show us on a tablet computer (Score:2)
where the bad operating systems touched you.
Re: Show us on a tablet computer (Score:2)
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My machine boots & is ready to use in seconds. My OS doesn't distract or interrupt me. I really appreciate the smaller system footprint. Staying up to date is simple & easy & completely under my control (See: doesn't interrupt or distract me again). Finding FOSS apps that do what I want/need is easy & free.
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I've been happy with desktop Linux for 25 years. Currently using Gentoo, Xorg (not Wayland yet but maybe someday), NO systemd (hopefully not ever), and KDE Plasma (though I've tried it several times and always went back to XFCE). Gradually migrating from pulseaudio to Pipewire.
Today, everything Just Works, although that was less so back in the early days.
BTW, while I'm not a Gnome user, I have heard through the grapevine that Gnome Tweaks sometimes break with Gnome updates. Usually not forever, but defin
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Its the year of Linux on the Windows Desktop (Score:2)
The Year of Linux on (3% of) Desktop is finally here! (party emoji here)
It's probably the year of Linux on the Windows Desktop. Linux distributions runnings on Windows using its Subsystem for Linux, not Linux running natively on the hardware.Ubuntu, Debian, Suse, Kali, ... all are on the Microsoft Windows Store.
Windows is a bit closer to macOS now. You can have both commercial apps and *nix on your desktop.
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How on earth could BSD be first in a "The Year of Linux on (3% of) Desktop" race? It's a race with Linux as the only participant. It's an objective meant for Linux and Linux only.
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You must be new here.
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Natalie Portman, naked and petrified and covered in hot grits.
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I was always a fan of the "Beowulf cluster of Natalie Portmans pouring hot grits down your pants" comments. Pity those didn't stick around long.
Hmm (Score:3)
I guess the most important take from this is there will probably be a few less November babies this year... any Valentines day sales stats to back this anomaly up?
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I guess the most important take from this is there will probably be a few less November babies this year... any Valentines day sales stats to back this anomaly up?
I'm dumb. Please can you explain the joke to me?
Re: Hmm (Score:2)
There is a surge in market share in Feburary, when Valentines day happens.
It takes 9 months to make a baby.
Historically (not sure this is still the case) leaning linux took some sort of investment of time, the joke was that people took an interest for once, or perhaps giving up on romance and defaulting to..
I dunno, it really wasnt intended to be a kneww slapper, but there is your explanation. You must be fun at partys. :)
It really wasnt all that funny of a joke,
Valentines Day (Score:2)
There is also a surge in vacuum cleaner sales in communities with high Linux usage.
Re: Valentines Day (Score:2)
The plot thickens....
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Re: Valentines Day (Score:2)
Depressingly... not viagra...
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There is a surge in market share in Feburary, when Valentines day happens.
It takes 9 months to make a baby.
Historically (not sure this is still the case) leaning linux took some sort of investment of time, the joke was that people took an interest for once, or perhaps giving up on romance and defaulting to..
I dunno, it really wasnt intended to be a kneww slapper, but there is your explanation. You must be fun at partys. :)
It really wasnt all that funny of a joke,
Don't you hate it when you have to explain a joke? 8^)
Anyhow, Linux can be as superficial level as Windows or MacOS can be, or you can dig deeply if you like (just like MacOS, despite the popular narrative).
Today's Linux even has better driver support, as they don't purposely eliminate devices for profit.
So you install Linux from a Thumb drive while connected to the internet, it looks at your machine, goes out and grabs the drivers, and there ya are, ready to roll.
I remember when first getting int
ChromeOS and Android are based on Linux (Score:5, Funny)
the same way excrement is based on carbon.
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Different things. Android uses the Linux kernel, but ChromeOS is a version of a full "Linux" desktop. (Sorry RMS.)
So while ChromeOS could be counted, Android is about as Linuxy as my DVD player.
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Meanwhile, total desktop use fell from 95% to 42% (Score:5, Informative)
Many casual users have abandoned their desktops for iPads and smartphones, so linux ends up getting a larger percentage share of a shrinking market. Which is nice, but not necessarily proof of Linux's growing popularity.
https://gs.statcounter.com/pla... [statcounter.com]
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Interesting that, in the US, desktop usage still leads mobile 2 to 1. People here still love their computers, apparently.
Both Canada and Europe are around 50-50.
Re:Meanwhile, total desktop use fell from 95% to 4 (Score:5, Insightful)
Interesting that, in the US, desktop usage still leads mobile 2 to 1. People here still love their computers, apparently.
Both Canada and Europe are around 50-50.
Mobile is just about 100 percent consumption based. Certainly getting on the internet is now so simple that you can give an idiot a smartphone, and s/he can troll lots of places with their home brewed opinions. But they consume content, not create it.
But some of us still need to create things. Screen real estate is important. People like me who touch-type and need real estate to look at still use things like a 27 inch main monitor and a 43 inch aux monitor. Who need lots of local storage and some physical security, and don't want to create on a tiny screen of a smartphone or the various kludges to make a smartphone pretend to be a desktop.
So unless we become 100 percent consumers, and I dunno, 100 percent of the content is created by AI, the desktop isn't going away.
Desktop will never die. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm a desktop user by choice. Bonus: Lubuntu.
For me, the deciding factors are the big comfy ergonomics and easy extensibility. There will always be people who care about these.
The normies and their smartphones are all the people who were never that much into computers in the first place. They are free now.
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Yes, you're correct. The iPad may be the most popular type of tablet, but there are many others sold too. Thank you for your clarification.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-... [statcounter.com]
Finally! The Year of the LInux Desktop!! (Score:4, Funny)
Break out your Nomads and dance! We finally did it!
What is the "Unknown" line? (Score:3)
If you go to the Statcounter link (https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide) you will see that Windows dropped dramatically and another "Unknown" line rose rapidly in March-May. Then, in June, the "Unknown" line dropped to zero. Did they figure out what the "Unknown" was?
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That peak is very pronounced in India, Africa and Asia. Perhaps some variant of Windows sold in those markets that Statcounter couldn't characterize. Once they compensated for that, the 'Unknown' went away.
Probably some custom Windows configuration, since that is where the biggest bite was taken from and then recovered.
Re:What is the "Unknown" line? (Score:4, Funny)
Probably some big web-scraping project—this is all based on browser user agents, so any spiders would show up as unidentifiable. (Or maybe it's zombie Amigas from outer space.)
linux desktop (Score:2, Informative)
Look, if you nerds really want Linux Desktop to be a winner then it needs consistency and apps. There is no Linux Desktop that is consistent and 'just works', Linux Desktop a hodge-podge of crap. There needs to be native consumer apps like Outlook that don't need a special container or special interpreter to run, no skills required just run a native app, and yes there might be a cost for decent apps and they might be closed source too.
Until Linux Desktop is consistent, easy, and has native apps it will neve
Re:linux desktop (Score:5, Interesting)
Look, if you nerds really want Linux Desktop to be a winner then it needs consistency and apps. There is no Linux Desktop that is consistent and 'just works', Linux Desktop a hodge-podge of crap.
There is no "Linux Desktop" -- not in the sense you mean. Various Linux distributions have created desktops with various styles and features. And they are more consistent than you think. Many apps have installation packages that allow them to be installed and work fine in multiple desktops. No doubt you have adjusted to differences in various Windows or MacOS updates. Adjusting to different desktops in Linux distributions is not onerous.
There needs to be native consumer apps like Outlook that don't need a special container or special interpreter to run, no skills required just run a native app, and yes there might be a cost for decent apps and they might be closed source too.
There are many such apps. See here for Outlook replacements. [alternativeto.net] Most of them are free; some offer premium versions for a fee.
Until Linux Desktop is consistent, easy, and has native apps it will never really go anywhere. Keep hoping nerds, the proof is in the pudding.
I would argue many Linux distributions fulfill all three of your requirements. And Linux definitely has gone somewhere over the decades, despite naysayers like you. It runs on more hardware architectures than you know, small to large. You're probably using it right now (via servers on the internet) without even being aware of it.
Re:linux desktop (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously - just stop. You're embarrassing yourself. Linux has all the apps you want. The reason people won't use them is because Linux isn't exactly like Windows.
Some time ago, at my office, we got tired of getting raked over the coals with the price of Office, so we tried to roll out OpenOffice. Our employees nearly revolted. Was it because OpenOffice was missing some functionality they needed for their jobs? Nope. After asking quite a few employees to show us what the problem was, it turned out it was because the menus were different. Seriously. They were looking for the functionality they needed, and it was just in a different place. I think maybe five people in the entire company (of about 250) were actually missing something they needed. We finally had to give it up.
Personally, I think we gave in too easily; we still have employees who insist they can't do their jobs without WordPerfect. (And that's what we let them use.)
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Well, in their defense, Wordperfect was far better than MS Word, though it got worse the more they tried to copy Word in a vain attempt to keep market share.
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Seriously - just stop. You're embarrassing yourself. Linux has all the apps you want. The reason people won't use them is because Linux isn't exactly like Windows.
Some time ago, at my office, we got tired of getting raked over the coals with the price of Office, so we tried to roll out OpenOffice. Our employees nearly revolted. Was it because OpenOffice was missing some functionality they needed for their jobs? Nope. After asking quite a few employees to show us what the problem was, it turned out it was because the menus were different.
I had a project where word processor documents had to be compatible across Mac/Windows/Linux.
Well, right away, that eliminated Microsoft Office - It's not even compatible between Windows and MacOS, and it doesn't do Linux.
So it was The open source Office suite. Wht you do on Linux looks the same on MacOS, or Windows. All combinations worked.
Point is, your employees were demanding the worst solution, as if it were somehow the best.
We finally had to give it up.
Personally, I think we gave in too easily; we still have employees who insist they can't do their jobs without WordPerfect. (And that's what we let them use.)
A lot of people are living in a stasis field, where they learned someth
Re:linux desktop (Score:5, Interesting)
Look, if you nerds really want Linux Desktop to be a winner then it needs consistency and apps.
As a nerd, I don't give a shit whether Linux is a winner. Look what happens to "winners" - Windows has turned into an advertising billboard, and Android into that plus a location tracker. Linux has all the apps I need and I have never found Windows consistent.
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Look, if you nerds really want Linux Desktop to be a winner then it needs consistency and apps.
As a nerd, I don't give a shit whether Linux is a winner. Look what happens to "winners" - Windows has turned into an advertising billboard, and Android into that plus a location tracker. Linux has all the apps I need and I have never found Windows consistent.
This needs to be at +5 insightful. The desire to "use the whatever that everyone else is using" BS is just that. Often the most popular is the worst, just like VHS was the clear winner in the videotape world while being the unquestionable worst in every aspect.
Advertising platform indeed. I installed Windows Pro 10 on a machine a couple days ago, and while using edge to download Firefox, the whoring out Microsoft did to make Edge a billboard was disgusting.
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This is the irony. Everyone wants to enjoy the popularity of Linux going mainstream, but they don't want to make the necessary concessions to go mainstream.
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XFCE4 is consistent and just works.
There are at least 60,000 apps for Debian Linux alone, although, like Windows, they are of varying quality. Most also have Ubuntu and/or RHEL-compatible versions.
You can (and I regularly do) use Office 365 from a Linux browser.
You can (and I regularly do) access Windows machines from Linux via Remote Desktop, and vice versa.
You can dual-boot Linux and Windows, or boot to one and run the other in a VM at near-native speed.
Many (though not all) Windows apps will run on WINE
The Year Of The Linux Desktop was 1995 for me. (Score:2)
I was 100% Linux since before Win 95 came out. Windows 3.1 was the last Windows I ever had installed on any machine I owned.
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I went all Linux in 1993, and loved it. I had to reinstall Windows exclusively for a few University classes for a few semesters (no money for enough hard drive space for both at the time), then went dual boot for a few years until graduation. Then I went all Linux again in 1999, and haven't used Windows at home ever since.
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I was 100% Linux since before Win 95 came out. Windows 3.1 was the last Windows I ever had installed on any machine I owned.
We salute you, Eldritch Linux god!
That's the serious level of Linux use.
Linux is in almost everything today (Score:3)
Most televisions use Linux versions (Android and others). All Android phones are Linux. Since Linux is the kernel, not the top layer used for everything else. As for Desktop use. The reason for low use there is Windows. But since Windows 11 is the last version of none subscription version of Windows (I guess next version after Windows 11 is going to be named something like Office 365). This was going to happen. Windows also has become more restrictive with Windows 10 and since Windows 11 that problem has gotten bigger since it only runs on Microsoft approved hardware that many PC don't meet the requirement for.
There's no surprise of this increase. This is going to happen slowly, because most computers today come with Windows and that has to change. It probably won't, because of Microsoft monopoly on the PC market and the dominance of OEM channels.
Took us 30 years (Score:4, Funny)
But we made it. At this rate Linux will take over 100% of the desktop market in the year 3023!
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But we made it. At this rate Linux will take over 100% of the desktop market in the year 3023!
No no no. You need to think like a tech bro. You take the January number, you take the June number. You say something like "tech experiences exponential growth" and draw a trendline showing that Linux will have 100% market share by 2050, and 2.75E^55% market share by 3023! Every atom in the universe will be powered by this!
It was me! (Score:5, Funny)
I switched my primary machine to Linux in May of 2023.
Old Computers? (Score:3)
Have a really nice tower I built in 2016. It cannot be made to run Win 11 without replacing the mobo. Not happening. But it might get converted to Linux once Win 10 turns into a pumpkin. It would happen to this computer, too, except I don't trust this one. Minor problem is it needs a new fan. Otherwise, it needs additional hardware for Win 11 and it MAY have been responsible for a really foul stench a few months ago. If so, something may have fried. It'll get recycled when I bring the new computer up as the "main" computer, since it could have a problem I wouldn't feel right about passing on to anyone buying the computer from me. Will the recyclers salvage the gold, etc? from the places that have it as plating. Hope so, but recycling it is the best I can do for long-term sustainability.
But the old 2016 home-built will likely have Linux. Not sure what I'll use it for, ham radio stuff prolly, but that could be how Windows is getting dropped.
As an aside, the new paradigm with CPU and no internal accessories like optical drives, card readers, etc. is pretty nice. This computer is like that, and to it I have USB disks and blindingly-fast optical disk drive and flash drive - all the stuff that is in the 2016 home-built chassis. But just by plugging in the USB wires to the new computer, I have all the peripherals I need without buying new ones to go into the chassis, nor manually port them over from one CPU to the other, leaving the old one lacking optical and flash capability. Nice.
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Have a really nice tower I built in 2016. It cannot be made to run Win 11 without replacing the mobo. Not happening.
So, on the off chance you were interested in a fix for the Windows 11 'nope', there's this: https://github.com/AveYo/Media... [github.com] - it enables in-place Windows 11 upgrades on 'unsupported' hardware.
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it enables in-place Windows 11 upgrades on 'unsupported' hardware
Reminds of a joke:
What is the second happiest day for a boat owner?
The day they buy their boat.
What is the happiest day for a boat owner?
The day they sell their boat.
Because - Smartphones (Score:3)
In my small social circle I am the only nerd and the only one still using a PC, and I use Linux. Everyone else has ditched their PC and they were using Windows.
As an ordinary person, why would I want Linux ??? (Score:2)
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As an ordinary person you don't need/want Linux because you've been told to stay away. The main problem with Linux is that it has been "marketed" over the years as being either an elitist nerd thing or only good for server roles. That stupid penguin mascot needs to go too. Microsoft tried this twice (Bob, Clippy) and it never fits well.
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If your experience from Windows is that you buy a computer with it installed, and everything immediately just works without any tweaking, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you stay on Windows. For most people, getting a new computer means spending a day on getting everything working properly again. Yes it's whataboutism, but we have the software we have, not the software we dream of.
Even switching phone is usually a multi-hour exercise in frustration, and those keep most of what they need in the cloud.
Ch
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Chromebooks are the closest you will get to Linux just working without tweaking.
Can you give us some descriptions of Linux simply not working out of the box?
I'm pretty curious, because My experience is a whole lot different since around 2005 or so.
Or is this just the regurgitated meme that might have been true in 1995? in that case - Windows sucks because Windows 1.0 was awful.
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Secure boot certificates are a problem now. I'd consider turning secure boot in the bios "not out of the box." Thanks MS.
nVidia drivers in anything but Ubuntu aren't point-n-click easy.
Making/mounting a SMB share or NAS isn't point and click (at least with KDE, maybe Gnome is better?).
Most of the other issues I have are self-inflicted from using Fedora/Rocky for everything. Having to add repos for non-free stuff like codecs, etc.
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Not a programmer, not a server admin/tech, do nothing techie ! I want something that works straight from install and don't want to do tweaking to get "anything" to work right. What can it OUT PERFORM vs. Windows / Macs. ? Sell it to me ! Make me want it !!!
If you use a modern Linux Distro, and install it with internet access, it will work right out of the box. If you need to install more programs, you can go to the repositories using the built in software for that purpose. A couple clicks and it's installed.
Even better, updates are installed when you tell it to install, and do not destabilize your computer like Windows does before you do the BOHICA installs.
Ain't selling it to ya though. If you are happy with the Windows ecosystems, I fully encourage you
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My wife asked me to install Kubuntu on her laptop in 2007. I had been using it for about a year, but she was still on Windows XP. Already most of her computer use was in Firefox and OpenOffice. She had been reading stories about problems with Windows Vista; I seem to remember something about very slow file copying that was being blamed on new DRM. She's never looked back, and still uses Kubuntu on her laptop today.
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Re:As an ordinary person, why would I want Linux ? (Score:4, Insightful)
no spyware, no ads, better privacy, better software distribution and update/upgrade system, full control over your system, it's free, ...
funny that remark about not wanting to tweak to get anything to work, because when i use windows/macos i have to tweak a lot of things to have it work 'right'.
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I'm also not a programmer or server admin. I like it as a power user, everything is much more configurable. The free software nature means you don't have to deal with anti-user "features" like Windows has. If someone builds something like that into software, it'll bug someone and they'll just rip it out. It's more like democratized software compared to software designed to make money. That and I generally do find stuff easier to fix. In Windows, I end up doing the same thing over and over again hoping it st
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Steamdeck? (Score:2)
Did Steamdeck push it over the threshold? Do they count Steamdeck as a "desktop" OS?
Makes sense (Score:3)
It honestly makes sense - the thing that has kept Linux off desktops basically forever is lack of applications. Today though outside of gaming a majority of "applications" are web based and run on Chrome just fine. All most people are looking for in a "desktop" OS is a way to launch a web browser - hence why Chromebooks work.
The irony though is the same thing that is making Linux viable on the desktop is actually killing the desktop (at least for personal use). More and more people are just using phones or tablets instead. I'm a programmer & computer enthusiast so I'm rocking a quad monitor desktop battlestation at home, but both my siblings do ALL of their computing needs on their smartphones, as do many other friends of mine.
Linux is everywhere (Score:2)
deceiving (Score:2)
Unfortunately, those stats are deceiving. Yes, Linux market desktop share may have doubled in the last 10 years or so, but over the same time desktop shrinked in favor to mobile, so it halved. Globally, counting both desktop and mobile, Linux is about the same as 10 years ago, 1.something %.
Yes, if you count Android and ChromeOS as Linux, the numbers are dramatically different, but those should not be counted.
Re:I see this as a solid indicator (Score:5, Insightful)
It actually probably means the opposite. Linux's is probably due to more and more people dumping their home desktops and laptops completely and just using their iPads and smartphones.
Its Windows Subsystem for Linux (Score:2)
It actually probably means the opposite. Linux's is probably due to more and more people dumping their home desktops and laptops completely and just using their iPads and smartphones.
It might be Windows Subsystem for Linux. It allows you to run various popular Linux distributions on the Windows desktop. People no longer have to choose Windows or Linux, they can have both, without dual booting, both simultaneously running on the Windows desktop.
Re:I see this as a solid indicator (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably a lot to do with "Your computer doesn't have the TPM chip needed for the upgrade to Windows 11" and a friendly nerd suggesting Linux
I know this is your fever dream but literally no one outside of Slashdot gives an iota of a shit about this. People use computers. They don't care what OS is underneath until it stops functioning, and Windows 10 is functioning for everyone and precisely zero people anywhere on this planet will have been convinced to dump a perfectly functional Windows 10 for Linux by a friendly nerd. If anything they'll have told the friendly nerd "sod off, and don't touch my computer".
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However, plenty have been tricked into *grading to Windows 11.
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And no one cared. People use computers not OSes. The only thing most people noticed is the start button isn't in the bottom left and judging by my colleagues, maybe less than 1% actually even cared about that since there's a feature to justify that back to the bottom left.
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If you think people don't care about the underlying OS, think about why Linux netbooks were a disaster and exchanged in droves for those running Windows.
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If you think people don't care about the underlying OS, think about why Linux netbooks were a disaster and exchanged in droves for those running Windows.
Linux netbooks were a disaster because people don't care about the underlying OS. They care about the apps they wanted to use and those apps didn't work / didn't exist. Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, 7, they all run the same stuff. The comparison between breaking fundamental compatibility with what people *DO* care about couldn't be sillier.
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The real reason is the abandonment of desktops/laptops/notebooks by many people in favour of smartphones. Those people are more likely to have been Windows or Mac users. Everyone I know who used to run Windows has ditched their desktop/laptop and now uses a smartphone. Being a geek I am the only one still using a PC and I run Linux. So in my small social circle the Linux usage has gone from about 20% to 100%. Yes, it's a very small social circle.
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Making apps for TVs (Score:2)
Can a user make and deploy an application onto a TV with embedded Linux, preferably without paying a substantial annual fee for a license to develop for the TV's bespoke userland? If so, which brands allow this?
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Clarification: Are you suggesting that a TV when placed on top of a desk can be counted as a DeskTop?