OMGBuntu doesn't believe the figure <a href="http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/10/linux-marketshare-6-91-percent-september-2017" rel="nofollow">http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/10/linux-marketshare-6-91-pe...</a><p>> The figure is impressive but is also highly irregular and out of sync with the reported Linux marketshare from other companies like StatCounter and Wikimedia.<p>> [...]<p>> Netmarketshare also stress that the graph showing Linux’s big leap is based on “preview data that has NOT been reviewed by Quality Assurance”.<p>Anecdotally, I was at an Erlang and Elixir event on Saturday morning. The first three speakers were using Ubuntu machines. I didn't notice what the fourth one used. Maybe it's the subject but conferences use to be MacBook monocultures with an occasional Linux or Windows machine.
The last few times this stuff has appeared here and elsewhere, most assumptions are Chromebooks and school year are accounting for a big part of it.<p>Technically Chromebooks are Linux, but it doesn't seem right to combine them with Linux when doing broad charts or data like this. It would be better to separate it out.<p>A smaller part could be headless Chrome being fully unleashed. Though I'm not so sure about this.
Anecdotally, I have to say yeahhhhhhhh riggghttttt. Especially since this seems to have happened suddenly in Aug / Sept. Headless Chrome seems like a far more likely explaination than “2017 is actually finally the year of desktop linux”.
Do Chromebooks count?<p>The uptick from August to September looks enormous, but if Chromebooks did well in back-to-school sales to students and schools, it might be real.
I think in the last 20 years Linux has become many orders of magnitude better on all fronts. It's a rolling snowball that has already surpassed other platforms on many levels. The only reason there's only 6-7% market share is that's there very few people selling it. I would say it's an huge market opportunity.
Based on the chart the share was a stable 2.5% this year. Then there was a slight uptick in July, and a rapid increase from 2.5% to 7.5%.<p>Was there any major Linux release that would explain that ?
Otherwise, i'd go with "This report contains preview data that has NOT been reviewed by Quality Assurance."
I've always wondered about the people using linux for privacy reason going the extra step to mask their operating system and block trackers. Would they appear anywhere here ?<p>Out of all people using linux as their desktop/laptop I know about a third are privacy minded and take this extra step.
From 2.5% in July to 4.9% in September. Seems highly unlikely that many millions of people decided to switch desktop OS within a couple of months, without anyone noticing.