this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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If Current Trends Continue, Linux Will be a Dominant OS in ~10 Years

https://logicalerzor.codeberg.page/blog/linux-desktop-growth-trajectory/

#Linux @linux

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[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 5 points 1 day ago

Already is.

And wtf graphs

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 114 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Malgas@beehaw.org 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When I think about this comic, it's always the alt-text that comes to mind:

By the third trimester, there will be hundreds of babies inside you.

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago

XKCD is gold

[–] starik@lemmy.zip 69 points 2 days ago (1 children)

At her current rate of growth, my niece will weigh 290,000 pounds by the time she’s 10 years old.

[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 100 points 2 days ago

"If these trends continue..... Eyyyyy!"

Disco Stu creative interpretation of trends

[–] zergtoshi@lemmy.world 39 points 2 days ago

It already is. The headline is missing "desktop".

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 77 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

I had sex 20 minutes ago. If these trends continue I will have sex every hour until the end of time. /s

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 27 points 2 days ago

This guy fucks.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 26 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I was there so that’s a solid no. It would’ve been much better if I wasn’t there.

Dang. Sounds hot.

[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Is it possible to learn this power...

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 days ago

Nope, it only happens when I’m around women that make horrible life choices.

[–] DiarrheaSommelier@lemmy.ca 53 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Yes, that's correct. If you cherrypick data and extrapolate your preferred assumptions about it you can make it say the thing you want.

Like that post on that other site we don’t talk about where that guy decided to make the claim that Patrick Mahomes is average if you just make his stats average.

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[–] AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social 33 points 2 days ago (6 children)

There really just isn't enough data here to make those conclusions.

For example, here's the Steam survey data plotted without the added estimated graph lines.

image

Mostly flat, slow trend upwards, slightly sharper increase more recently.

That could flatline again, curve back down, grow way slower, grow way faster, etc. There's just not enough data there to predict the next 4X as long amount of time anywhere close to accurately.

[–] a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Lol, it certainly won't if you only give us the start of the image!

Here. I filled it in for you and it took, like, 10 seconds?

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

Yep. People don't understand that data analysis and social anthropology don't pair well together. If they did, life would be a lot simpler because crystal ball. As it is, this data gives zero insight into what tech, society, and events will do in the upcoming decade. All variables are entirely unpredictable and history shows us time and time again that only a fool would try factor or predict them.

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[–] ruuster13@lemmy.zip 23 points 2 days ago

The decade of the year of the Linux desktop

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 14 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Extrapolated data aside, Linux is already the dominant OS (really, family of operating systems, since Debian, RHEL, etc. are separate operating systems) for servers. Additionally, the majority of smartphones run Android, which uses the Linux kernel. And yes, everyone knows, it's as much of a Linux distribution as iOS is based on BSD, but still.

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[–] esc@piefed.social 21 points 2 days ago

What? Linux is the dominant OS right now.

[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago

Finally. 2036 is the year of the Linux desktop

[–] Johnnyvibrant@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 days ago (2 children)

FOSS isn’t a race, FOSS is plant life…it doesn’t need to dominate or win anything. It just needs to survive.

FOSS is already in most proprietary software already and Linux powers most devices.

Year of the Linux desktop is a pointless metric.

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[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 12 points 2 days ago

It already is.

(you didn't specify what type of OS)

Also, I'm not really interested in domination.

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Windows becoming a Linux distribution.

not what I want, I want Windows (as in, the existing Windows codebase) to become FOSS, if that happened, we would no longer need to care about anyone switching to Linux, in fact I might then install a FOSS Windows myself

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Last I checked, their APIs are pretty terrible. Though that was over a decade ago.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

it would be awesome to have windows hardware drivers working in fossland though

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[–] FreddiesLantern@leminal.space 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

imagines tux with a leather whip giving windows a good run for it’s naughty boy money

Is it getting warm in here or is that just me?

(checks climate chart) ...it's not just you, unfortunately

[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

You're not alone

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Unfortunately trends never stay. I think it takes more than just 10 years to dominate Linux in the desktop market. If it ever happens. I mean not even Apple could break it, and that is a huge company. There is a point when the growth slow down. In example the initial adoption rate is often higher than the last remaining. We don't even know what Microsoft will do. Remember Windows XP? The trends were different then. Remember Windows 8? Adoption rate doesn't work like a simple graph.

Linux desktop does not need to be "dominant", it just needs big enough to be "relevant". I would be flabbergasted if we reach 30% in 20 years.

[–] Logical_Error@fosstodon.org 3 points 2 days ago

@thingsiplay exactly! that was my point to writing this article: that it should soon be relevant enough :)

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

This isn't totally crazy. Microsoft is heavily invested in the AI bubble and will not go as they will have less money to fund windows, which is already losing all of its competitive edges and is not working right. The niche is where windows will be necessary instead of a choice that can easily be done away with are going to shrink possibly all the way down to Legacy business application support at which point even then it would be a heterogeneous environment at those companies

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