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Linux Hits an All-Time High Marketshare on Steam Hardware Survey

Ozriel

M$FT
Factors such as the Steam Deck doing well commercially and the concerns behind Windows 11's Recall feature and telemetry may have contributed to Linux's rise.

The Recall feature that was just announced weeks ago? Exclusive to new PCs?

It’s pretty much the Steamdeck and increased focus on Photon. The Win 11 speculation reads like wishful thinking.
 

Maddoxswe

Member
I'm done with Microsoft.
I've been doing my research and plan to migrate my home PC to Mint distro (at this point) as soon as I can find the time.
I'm also done with Microsoft, but it's so many things that's not there yet on linux.

I game alot, and i have a nvidia card. DLSS is a huge loss when using linux, also the HDR. I need to stick with windows until they fix that.
 

MrRibeye

Member
In case anyone is considering the switch to Linux, please be aware of this tangible list of reasons why Linux is not ready to be your main OS:

Excerpts:
  • ! The open source NVIDIA driver is much slower (up to twenty times) than its proprietary counterpart due to incomplete power management (it's solely NVIDIA's fault which refuses to provide the Nouveau project with the required firmware).
  • ! The open source NVIDIA driver, nouveau, does not properly and fully support power management features and fan speed management (again, that's NVIDIA's fault).
  • !! HDR is not supported.
  • ! Keyboard shortcut handling for people using local keyboard layouts is broken (this bug is now 15 years old).
  • ! X.org doesn't automatically switch between desktop resolutions if you have a full screen application with a custom resolution running.
  • ! X.org allows applications to exclusively grab keyboard and mouse input. If such applications misbehave you are left with a system you cannot manage, you cannot even switch to text terminals.
  • !! There's no shared common universal API for complete rendering fonts under Linux which means fonts may look quite different depending on the application or library they use. At the moment fonts in your distro could look differently in web browsers or applications using either GTK, Qt or EFL.
  • !! Linux lacks an alternative to Windows Task Manager which shows not only CPU/RAM load, but also Network/IO/GPU load and temperature for the latter. There's no way to ascertain the CPU/RAM/IO load of processes' groups, e.g. web browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

^mandatory reading before switching to Linux.
 

nowhat

Member
I tried Steam on Linux when it was first released. Back then only native ports were supported, so mostly your options were limited to the odd indie here and there. My experience running DOTA 2, which supposedly should have worked, was that it downloaded a few gigs of patches every time I tried it and then refused to run.

Fast forward to this year, I like so many else it seems wanted to play New Vegas after watching the Fallout show. But I lack the hardware for it, so... yeah, I ordered a Steam Deck OLED. Bit pricey to play a single game, granted, but I've been wanting one for quite some time and this tipped me over the edge.

However, while waiting for it to arrive, I decided what the hell, I'll try to run it on this Linux laptop with integrated Intel graphics. And what do you know... apart from having to manually enable Proton, and that the launch screen clearly is not meant for high DPI displays, it works fine. With a few texture and vegetation mods even. Granted, this laptop does have a decent i7 and 32GB of RAM, but as said the GPU isn't great. But as far as a "gaming on Linux" experience outside the Steam Deck goes, I was really pleasantly surprised. Valve has done a lot of good work there.
 

Mithos

Member
Adobe's work suite is one such example where it can really get in the way of Linux adoption. I've seen some Linux advocates mention GIMP or Krita, but they fundamentally work differently from Photoshop.
If ALL anti-cheats start working on Linux. Photoshop would be the last thing I'd need Windows for, that stops me from going Linux permanently.
 

Bojanglez

The Amiga Brotherhood
What is the issue with PSN login on

9217214841717320179gol1.png

Source

Linux hit a marketshare of 2.32% in the May 2024 Steam Hardware Survey which marks the highest ever. The last time it went over 2% was in February 2013, a few months after Valve launched the Linux Steam client, when it hit 2.02%. When accounting for just anglophone users, according to GamingOnLinux, Linux represents a 5.29% share. Factors such as the Steam Deck doing well commercially and the concerns behind Windows 11's Recall feature and telemetry may have contributed to Linux's rise.

Things holding Linux back include anticheat software in multiplayer games, Playstation games that require PSN logins, SteamOS still only available on the Steam Deck, and Nvidia GPUs not playing nice. I personally doubt the first two problems will be solved. Valve works on Valve Time, so who knows when SteamOS will be available on other handheld PCs, let alone, regular PCs. There is promising progress with Nvidia GPUs and Linux with NVK making inroads and explicit sync currently in beta.
How come PSN login not work on Linux? I can login to PSN for PS Now PC client on my Steam Deck with no problem. To be fair I've not got Helldivers on PC yet.
 

Unknown?

Member
Adobe's work suite is one such example where it can really get in the way of Linux adoption. I've seen some Linux advocates mention GIMP or Krita, but they fundamentally work differently from Photoshop.

That is how I used to feel, back around 2012-2014 when I first used Linux. Fell off and recently switched back after endless frustrations with Windows late last year.

Now it feels like how Operating Systems used to act. Actually useable without the endless BS of internet searches when I try to find a file, endless bloat software, bullshit tracking, etc. Its far more useful and something I actually enjoy using now. Only issues I had was trying to re-learn and install the damned thing. They really need to make it a bit simpler, especially when there are issues with some distros and things like NVME recognization.
Ahhh, the best part. It isn't spyware, it is very liberating.

Whonix users, rise up!!
 

Wildebeest

Member
In case anyone is considering the switch to Linux, please be aware of this tangible list of reasons why Linux is not ready to be your main OS:

Excerpts:


^mandatory reading before switching to Linux.
Nouveau sucks, but people should be aware that nvidia do also have closed source drivers for Linux, and they are not as bad. I have to say that things like applications taking exclusive control of your keyboard and soft locking your system is annoying, but it is not something that happens all the time and I don't think you notice much if playing games with proton.
 

Zathalus

Member
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thief183

Member
I already removed windows from all my PCs except the gaming one, for that I'm waiting for some better nvidia drivers cause atm they really don't work...
 

lordrand11

Member
OEM dominance helps for sure. Linux has small companies like System76 and Tuxedo, but I doubt we'll see Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc. selling their laptops with a Linux distro preinstalled ever.

The silver lining is that the former lead maintainer of Nouveau is now working for Nvidia which was a surprising development. Since Nvidia GPUs make up the majority of the market, it can definitely help Linux a bit.
They've done it before (though it didn't take off and was only there for about 2-3 years), I doubt it will ever be on the same scale as Windows, but at some point in the near future if the package systems are maintained in a better way with less broken dependencies (during updates) it potentially will start making bigger waves.

edit: added words
 
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This is because of a gaming handheld not daily driving of an OS. It still has a long ways to go in order for it to be a viable operating system.
 

spons

Gold Member
In case anyone is considering the switch to Linux, please be aware of this tangible list of reasons why Linux is not ready to be your main OS:

Excerpts:


^mandatory reading before switching to Linux.
The dude who wrote that is absolutely right. Linux as an operating system is a complete mess, and I love it. It's my daily driver on my laptop, although my desktop has Windows on it.

The less time spent talking about Mac OS, the better by the way. I mean Jesus Christ.
 
They've done it before (though it didn't take off and was only there for about 2-3 years), I doubt it will ever be on the same scale as Windows, but at some point in the near future if the package systems are maintained in a better way with less broken dependencies (during updates) it potentially will start making bigger waves.

edit: added words
I assume you're referring to the Steam Machines. It is possible that Valve may do a reboot of that strategy and focus on a select few configurations like Strix Halo.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
That is how I used to feel, back around 2012-2014 when I first used Linux. Fell off and recently switched back after endless frustrations with Windows late last year.

Now it feels like how Operating Systems used to act. Actually useable without the endless BS of internet searches when I try to find a file, endless bloat software, bullshit tracking, etc. Its far more useful and something I actually enjoy using now.
Absolutely this.

I also was pushed away hard from Linux at around that time. Back then, it wasn't ready - but that changed quickly and now there really isn't much of a reason left not to switch other than inertia and if you really need those online games that cannot be played unless you allow their spyware kernel anti-cheat.

But I switched to 100% Linux (incl for gaming) about 4-5 years ago and it's just so, so, so much better than Windows in practically every regard.

The funniest thing about Linux is that it is actually easier to learn for new people than Windows.
Because Windows is basically just decades of terrible legacy behavior, terrible UI design and treating the user like a god damn idiot since the 90s.
And that legacy keeps getting carried over with every new Windows release, just getting worse and worse and worse....

Meanwhile, start teaching someone to use PCs with Linux on a noob-friendly distro and things just "make sense" for the newbie.
I've heard that one especially often from tech support people when raising kids. One of them told me when their kid had to use a school PC for some at-school work, that PC had Windows, the kid went to the console, put "apt install krita" and was quite shocked that the Windows way to install the vast majority of software is drastically more complex than that :pie_roffles:

I'd still say it's not for everyone, and you do need to have some basic level in technical literacy to solve the rare issues you might be facing.
But if you have that capability, I'd say give it a go for sure.

In case anyone is considering the switch to Linux, please be aware of this tangible list of reasons why Linux is not ready to be your main OS:
That list was very obviously written by someone with a raging hate boner for Linux.
Sure, the guy writes he is objective and that he's not FUD-spreading, but that's just blant lies - many claims are frankly either wrong or misleading to the extreme, he's shifting goalposts in the page itself or just straight gaslights people ("If you think any Linux criticism is only meant to groundlessly revile Linux, please close this page.", "Almost every listed point has links to appropriate articles, threads and discussions centered on it, proving that I haven't pulled it out of my < expletive >. And please always check your "facts".", etc.).
It's a pretty nasty thing and that it's even spread at all is a damn shame.

Even the author himself says he doesn't like the list anymore:
TBO I want to drop this article or rewrite it completely. I don't like it any more.

Linux in 2024 is actually a ton better than it was in the late 90s when I first tried it. It's actually quite usable. There's a question of native games (pretty much disappeared completely aside from the Indies) and native software but Wine has become so powerful, you can run so many titles flawlessly if you really want to stick to Linux you perfectly can.

There's some remaining growing pains like missing HDR and 10/12bit per channel color display support but other than that, Linux can work fine for the average Joe.

I could go and dismantle almost the entire page this dude has written, but I don't have THAT much time.
So let's just do your excerpt:
  • ! The open source NVIDIA driver is much slower (up to twenty times) than its proprietary counterpart due to incomplete power management (it's solely NVIDIA's fault which refuses to provide the Nouveau project with the required firmware).
  • ! The open source NVIDIA driver, nouveau, does not properly and fully support power management features and fan speed management (again, that's NVIDIA's fault).
Not technically wrong, but: WHO CARES?!
Nobody uses open source NVIDIA drivers. You either use open source AMD drivers (mesa, which is great) or you use closed source NVIDIA drivers.
It is a non-issue. A point raised to raise a point.
Ehhh.... ChromeOS has HDR. ChromeOS is a custom Linux. I know others do as well. KDE added experimental HDR support recently. Wayland (the x11 replacement, with some distros already switching to it by default) has HDR support ready to merge in. Cosmic has HDR.
HDR is not widespread yet on Linux, but claiming it isn't supported is bollocks.
  • ! Keyboard shortcut handling for people using local keyboard layouts is broken (this bug is now 15 years old).
This bug is long fixed on most distributions. He does have a point, though, that there are still issues on Linux with some non-latin alphabets, eg Chinese is not widely supported and if it is, it's not nearly as good as on Windows.
  • ! X.org doesn't automatically switch between desktop resolutions if you have a full screen application with a custom resolution running.
  • ! X.org allows applications to exclusively grab keyboard and mouse input. If such applications misbehave you are left with a system you cannot manage, you cannot even switch to text terminals.
For the first one, I'd argue that it shouldn't. I don't want full screen applications without admin access rights to change my desktop resolution around.
For the second, it's the usual "in this theoretical case, this could cause issues"... okay... how often has this actually happened to anyone? This is certainly the first time I hear about it, and again, I've been at it for many years...
  • !! There's no shared common universal API for complete rendering fonts under Linux which means fonts may look quite different depending on the application or library they use. At the moment fonts in your distro could look differently in web browsers or applications using either GTK, Qt or EFL.
How is that a downside? It isn't the OS that should determine the "true" way a font should look. That's deeply in the application realm.
Are you telling me you can't have two applications on Windows that could (if they wanted) render the same font in slightly different ways? I honestly doubt that.
  • !! Linux lacks an alternative to Windows Task Manager which shows not only CPU/RAM load, but also Network/IO/GPU load and temperature for the latter. There's no way to ascertain the CPU/RAM/IO load of processes' groups, e.g. web browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
That is just completely false. ALL graphical Linux distros have a Task Manager-variant, which you can change if you don't like the default.
Personally, I am using System Monitor. It can do everything this point claims only Windows' Task Manager can do.

Honestly, my impression of that dude's list is that there are ton of "arguments" that are bug reports which he himself made, where he then proceeded to make an ass of himself and is now (10+ years after) still mad that he wasn't acknowledged properly by some maintainers back then.
Talk about holding a grudge, that dude puts Warhammer dwarves to shame.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
Interesting that Arch Linux is the most popular variety of Linux, but doesn't make up the majority.

nwIEQsb.png
 

bati

Member
As a linux admin i have only used linux on servers, docker and build cloud instances. It works perfectly for heavy apps db and infra level projects. But on personal computer its windows latest version for smoother experience. Not a fan of limited steamos functionality.

I don't know a single sysadmin that would disagree. Me included (now already former sysadm, moved out of the field). I was forced to use linux distro as desktop where I worked and it fucking sucked. Luckily 95% of my time was spent in terminal and working on the servers.
 

Business

Member
For people who just want the basic functionality Linux on desktop can actually be pretty great, but the problem is with intermediate users who want everything to be just like on Windows with 100% compatibility and don't love the idea of spending thousands of hours coming up with new solutions. A very annoying thing about the scene are the distro hopping hipsters who insist you evaluate different flavours of Linux every month to make sure you are not using some crusty old os that doesn't support all the latest things.
I’ve been on an off Linux for a good 25 years and for me the biggest problem is distros randomly breaking things on updates or the whole thing breaking for no good reason. Nobody expects Linux to be exactly as capable as Windows for the noob or the average user, but the basic functionality should be rock solid and it just isn’t.
 

Wildebeest

Member
I’ve been on an off Linux for a good 25 years and for me the biggest problem is distros randomly breaking things on updates or the whole thing breaking for no good reason. Nobody expects Linux to be exactly as capable as Windows for the noob or the average user, but the basic functionality should be rock solid and it just isn’t.
When I was using Ubuntu several years ago it was every time the nvidia drivers breaking everything on update every time, due to some licence issue or other, but I really don't think you would see that on Steam Deck.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Right, but Steam Deck is specifically Arch Linux so much more to the Linux community on steam than just Steam Deck
Deck reporting as Arch Linux makes sense, but I think if it was just desktop users installing their own OS then Debian would be more clearly on top.
 

lordrand11

Member
I assume you're referring to the Steam Machines. It is possible that Valve may do a reboot of that strategy and focus on a select few configurations like Strix Halo.
The initial quote was referring to the Dell and other manus, but Linux didn't take off well enough due to major dependency and systems changes.

Valve swapped entirely to Arch Linux because it has an easier to use and deploy upgrades/updates system I would assume
 
I've tried going Linux every now and then but I always give up since some software or hardware that I absolutely need doesn't work properly. I want to love it, but even if it mostly works just fine it's never good enough regardless of distro.

It always ends with countless hours of googling just to end up with solutions that involve terminal commands or whatever software without a GUI and then I give up.

And don't get me started about music production or heavy work with photos that require Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Anyone who believes GIMP is a serious alternative is absolutely delusional.
 
Linux is going mainstream.

I've been hearing this for 20 years at this point, no joke. I started getting into PCs as a career at 17 and started hearing it at 18 when I started focusing on learning the basics of linux. 20 years later people still saying the same thing.
 

FateTrap

Member
As a linux admin i have only used linux on servers, docker and build cloud instances. It works perfectly for heavy apps db and infra level projects. But on personal computer its windows latest version for smoother experience. Not a fan of limited steamos functionality.

I am not a Linux admin by profession but I am certified as a Linux admin by one of the largest Linux companies.
I actually have no problem using Linux on the desktop (and OpenBSD and FreeBSD/GhostBSD are also sufficient for the apps and games that I use).

It must also be said that there are differences between Linux systems.
The systems that I find the most qualitative for gaming are PCLinuxOS, Calculate Linux, Devuan (testing branch), ALT Sisyphus, Void Linux (glibc) and Alpine Linux.
 
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Drew1440

Member
Good to see, Hopefully Valve releases an actual Steam Box with SteamOS. The problem now is getting developers releasing native Linux titles, rather than using Proton/Wine. Being reliant on Microsoft API's is part of the problem.
 
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rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Good to see, Hopefully Valve releases an actual Steam Box with SteamOS. The problem now is getting developers releasing native Linux titles, rather than using Proton/Wine. Being reliant on Microsoft API's is part of the problem.
Valve already did that. The only problem is the devs not releasing a Vulkan option for games. DX12 only sucks.
 

Unknown?

Member
OEM dominance helps for sure. Linux has small companies like System76 and Tuxedo, but I doubt we'll see Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc. selling their laptops with a Linux distro preinstalled ever.

The silver lining is that the former lead maintainer of Nouveau is now working for Nvidia which was a surprising development. Since Nvidia GPUs make up the majority of the market, it can definitely help Linux a bit.
System 76 is awesome! I haven't tried Tuxedo yet though. Another one that is great is StarLabs. I have a StarBook and it is great, even compatible with Qubes OS.
 
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Codeblew

Member
I’ve been on an off Linux for a good 25 years and for me the biggest problem is distros randomly breaking things on updates or the whole thing breaking for no good reason. Nobody expects Linux to be exactly as capable as Windows for the noob or the average user, but the basic functionality should be rock solid and it just isn’t.
I have definitely had stuff break randomly 10+ years ago on Linux but recently since Ubuntu and its derivatives, I have not had that issue at all unless I experimented with a non-LTS version, which is kind of expected.
 

FateTrap

Member
"All time high", "2%". :lollipop_open_mouth:

2.32%
Linux users have been saying for years that they never got this survey, so take this 2.32% stat with a grain of salt.

Also interesting is the following stat.

Linux continues to be above 4% on the desktop

I don't think it has ever been the ambition of Linux users to become bigger than macOS or windows10/11 on the desktop.
But it is now close to 5% which is almost double ChromeOS.

ChromeOS is a Linux system so Linux currently sits above 6% on the desktop (ChromeOS + Linux) which means many people are just fine with it for desktop use.
 
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PsyEd

Member
I switched to linux mint due to steamdeck and it gave new life to my old dell laptop with 1050ti. I still have spyware 11 on my lenovo legion pro for gaming only....but for any productive work, learning blender, old steam steam games and some ps2/3 emulation....linux mint it is.

Edit: With Proton GE way more games are playable....so yeah a discovery journey for me.
 
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Hudo

Member
I fucked Microsoft and windows off when I got sick of the sheer amount of telemetry that was incorporated into windows. Also I really can't be arsed when windows becomes a subscription business.
Fucked Microsoft and Windows off when it asked me for account bullshit during installation and having to fucking Google(!) how to circumvent this and then scrolling over this article: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-set-windows-11-without-microsoft-account

I remember that moment. I had a good laugh and went with a Linux distro. Something is very wrong when Windows is more bothersome to install than Linux, imho.
 

SomeGit

Member
In case anyone is considering the switch to Linux, please be aware of this tangible list of reasons why Linux is not ready to be your main OS:

Excerpts:


^mandatory reading before switching to Linux.

The majority of those boil down to “don’t use Nvidia” and “don’t use Xorg”, and you are likely using Xorg only because Nvidia can’t be bothered to support Wayland properly. So the gist of it is, don’t use Nvidia on Linux.

HDR is supported now and the one about task manager is just bollocks, even simple tools like ntop will tell all that info. Linux has a great market by sysadmins and servers, it’s idiotic to even imply that it doesn’t have tools for checking network/io activity.
 
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