this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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11.37%. Now we're talking. (www.zdnet.com)
submitted 2 months ago by cm0002 to c/linux@programming.dev
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In StatCounter's latest US numbers, which cover through October, Linux shows up as only 3.49%. But if you look closer, "unknown" accounts for 4.21%. Allow me to make an educated guess here: I suspect those unknown desktops are actually running Linux. What else could it be? FreeBSD? Unix? OS/2? Unlikely.

In addition, ChromeOS comes in at 3.67%, which strikes me as much too low. Leaving that aside, ChromeOS is a Linux variant. It just uses the Chrome web browser for its interface rather than KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, or another Linux desktop environment. Put all these together, and you get a Linux desktop market share of 11.37%. Now we're talking.

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[–] thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't count ChromeOS as Linux. That's like counting all Android phones as Linux or something

[–] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 7 points 2 months ago

Yea ChromeOS really doesn't count

[–] recursive_recursion@piefed.ca 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

As much as I'd like the marketshare to be 11% I'm quite skeptical of this counting.

Until StatCounter can provide details on how the heck they're determining the percentages I'd personally recommend against using their stats.

Currently for now I'd recommend using Steam/Valve's user percentage counter as their breakdown provides more clarity.