Key Takeaways
- People don’t care about the OS, Windows is likely to remain dominant due to user familiarity and ease of use.
- Linux distributions offer a wide range of options for users with different needs, tastes, and experiences.
- The Linux community is tech-savvy and the OS already powers much of the world’s infrastructure, making it a solid choice for those willing to learn.
“This is the year of Linux on desktop!” This is an annual ritual performed by some of those within the Linux community who hope for an increase in market share for the open-source operating system. Linux has come a long way over recent decades, mostly through software development on the distribution level and input from external parties such as Valve with Proton. Still, does Linux actually need more desktop OS market share? I’ll provide you with a few reasons why I believe it doesn’t.
4 People don’t care about the OS
Let’s be real here. The average PC owner doesn’t care for the operating system installed. If they were to purchase a Mac, it would run macOS. A PC is 99% likely to run a version of Windows. Like a smartphone, a general user won’t take the time to learn how or perform an OS switch, if possible. The same goes for a PC. Windows 11 works out of the box with the hardware it’s installed on, especially when purchasing a system from an OEM. Linux can continue to struggle to work with specific components.
If a driver isn’t available from the manufacturer on Linux and the community hasn’t produced an open-source equivalent, Linux likely won’t know how to communicate with this specific part, which can hamper the overall experience. It could be as small as a LAN port on the laptop you’ll never use or the fingerprint reader that can save valuable seconds at the login screen. Installing Linux on a laptop or desktop PC where the user has worked with Windows all their lives is a difficult sale.
But Linux doesn’t need these additions to the community.
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How to dual-boot Windows 11 and Linux on your PC
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3 Mature and healthy distribution library
Don’t want to use Ubuntu? No problem! Linux Mint, OpenSuse, and Fedora are other user-friendly distributions sharing many of the same underpinnings. And there are countless other options available with various differences in the Linux computing experience. A distribution is essentially a version of the Linux OS with its own configuration of software built on top of the same foundation. The easiest way to think of a Linux distribution is to imagine past versions of Windows being updated to this day with the same base each offering a slightly different Windows experience.
The Linux distribution ecosystem is healthier than it has ever been with more choice for picking a version of Linux that best suits your needs, tastes, and experience. Arch Linux is marketed toward power users, whereas Gentoo is at hand if you wish to dive deep into the rabbit hole. These distributions have become incredibly stable and mature through revisions and major updates, both to the core Linux kernel and everything built ontop of it. Ubuntu of today is a completely different beast to what was available a few years ago.
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A collection of our favorite Linux distributions
Thinking about switching from MacOS, Windows, or ChromeOS to Linux? You have a ton of distributions or “flavors” of the OS to choose from.
I mentioned that “Linux doesn’t need these additions to the community,” referencing the average Joe and that’s because the Linux community is generally more tech-savvy than those who rely on macOS or Windows. It’s the one positive that came out of the OS being less user-friendly, especially when accessing the command line interface (CLI) was almost required to get things to work. The terminal is still worth using today even with all the GUI advancements and many of our own Linux guides use the CLI.
Linux is a great way to expand your knowledge and learn something new, but not everyone has the time or motivation for such a task. This is where Linux can fall flat as an influx of less tech-savvy users start to install the OS and hit brick walls when attempting to carry out basic tasks. New forum threads, Reddit posts, and social media snippets would be published with what could be considered basic questions or even uninformed complaints or rants that would drown out other Linux-based discussions.
1 Linux already powers the world
Most server infrastructure, supercomputers, and Internet of Things (IoT) hardware runs a version of Linux. Even the Valve Steam Deck runs Linux, which is partly why the company pushed hard to get Proton development underway to offer some degree of support for thousands of games on the Steam platform. Supercomputers run Linux, and so do most web servers, and even IoT hardware. Linux is almost like a bloat-free blank slate to build something efficient without all the bloat that comes with Windows or macOS.
Windows can also be found in the public domain, as evident by the sheer number of BSODs that have been spotted.
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Do you use Linux?
Millions rely on Linux, even if its market share doesn’t necessarily make positive headlines. More people are loading up some form of the OS on a PC to see what the fuss is about, break free from a corporate ecosystem, or try something new. Have you dabbled in Linux, do you use it every day, or have you yet to give it a try? Which distribution(s) have you used and which is your favorite?