Is 2025 the Year of the Linux Desktop?
- Reference: 0175809253
- News link: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/12/31/205245/is-2025-the-year-of-the-linux-desktop
- Source link:
With Windows 10 reaching end of support in October 2025, many users will face decisions about upgrading hardware for Windows 11 or considering different operating systems entirely. Linux distributions have evolved to offer increasingly polished desktop experiences, with improving hardware compatibility and familiar user interfaces.
2024 saw Linux adoption grow thanks to the Steam Deck's success, reaching a 4.04% market share in December, up from 3.85% during the same time last year. More Linux laptops, improved gaming compatibility, and growing awareness of its benefits also contributed to its steady rise.
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/14/1933221/lots-of-pcs-are-poised-to-fall-off-the-windows-10-update-cliff-one-year-from-today
It is always "next" year (Score:2)
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
No (Score:4, Informative)
That is all.
Re:No (Score:4, Interesting)
Linux is for smart people. So, that alone guarantees that it will never be mainstream.
Re:No (Score:5, Interesting)
I installed it on my parent's computer in 2005 after I got tired of pulling viruses out of their Windows XP machine. Best decision I ever made, now the only thing they can do is install malicious extensions in Firefox. Which they do. A couple times a year.
2005, the year of Linux on the Desktop.
Re: (Score:1)
> 2005, the year of Linux as a shim to run web browsers.
FTFY. I suspect that's all your parents do with their Linux machine. It's hardly a desktop. Heck I don't think my dad can tell the difference between using his PC and his Android tablet.
Re: (Score:2)
> "Best decision I ever made, now the only thing they can do is install malicious extensions in Firefox. Which they do. A couple times a year."
You can easily fix that.
[1]https://support.mozilla.org/en... [mozilla.org]
[2]https://mozilla.github.io/poli... [github.io]
Yay!
[1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/managing-policies-linux-desktops
[2] https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/#blockaboutaddons
Re: No (Score:1)
You beat me to it
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, all it's going to really do is promote the use of hacked Windows 11 USB installers that bypass the secure boot and other hardware requirement checks.
Well... (Score:2)
I'd put it differently: Yes, 2025 is the year of the linux desktop!
And so will be 2026, 2027, 2028, ...
And so was 2024, 2023, 2022, ... (back to some time in the 1990s.)
Most people don't even know what an OS is (Score:2)
Or that you can install an alternative one that might be better.
Being terrible, my prediction is that the steam deck alone will be the contact with desktop linux that most people will have, and many of the people that will install a different OS to their PC will be installing "the steam OS".
Re: Most people don't even know what an OS is (Score:2)
You're not kidding... I was in Bestbuy not long ago and asked a question to the saleslady with the word "Linux" in it ... she said "what's linux?"
The Linux Desktop? (Score:2)
"Is 2025 the Year of the Linux Desktop?"
Probably not, but it is gaining little by little.
I don't think there will ever be a mass migration event, I think it'll be more of a slow and steady erosion of of people switching away from Windows over time.
Part of the problem is that many Windows users don't even know that there are viable alternatives out there (and no, I don't mean Macs).
Linux is everywhere in Windows. (Score:5, Insightful)
Edge and Webview2 are based on an open source engine originally from KDE, Microsoft switched to Git from their old visual source safe architecture, WSL is used on virtually all pro software desktops and Azure is mostly Linux containers now. Even if the kernel is NT, you pretty much get a lot of Linux code in Windows now. "GNU/Linux" isn't even the most common Linux anymore, Android, Chromebooks, Linux Automotive, Linux Smart TVs, Linux embedded (you seen all those RaspberryPi shortages), Linux AI servers and Linux Helicopters on Mars all beat Desktop Linux.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure this post will upset plenty of Linux people.
Re: Linux is everywhere in Windows. (Score:2)
what does "linux" mean on your planet?
I love this post! (Score:3)
Reading this post each year is like watching A Christmas Story and the 1966 Grinch on TV. It never gets old and if I miss it I feel empty inside!
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't logged into slashdot for over five years (it was taken over by anti-semitic trolls at some point), but now that I have am 1) delighted to see the comments seem back under control and 2) completely unsurprised "Will (insert year here) be the year of the Linux desktop?" is first thing I saw. That's just too awesome.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, the antisemitic trolls are still around, it just takes a certain type of story to bring them out. Like, anything about Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, or Israel.
But yeah, this Linux Desktop fantasy never fails to amuse!
Re: I love this post! (Score:2)
why is slashdot talking about gaza/etc? granted it falls under the "stuff that matters" section but...
Yes (Score:3)
I know, because I'm running Linux Mint with Steam and games and stuff.
Totally the year of LOTD.
Re: (Score:2)
LOTD implies popularity. If we were going with individuals using Linux on desktop then I would say 1998 was definitively the year for Linux on desktop. At least that's when I was running Mandrake. It's always been possible, just never popular. ... and it still isn't.
Coincidence (Score:2)
Coincidentally the infamous [1]why Linux is not ready for the desktop [altervista.org] article was rewritten from scratch and published today.
[1] https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.final.html
Absolutely (Score:2)
Not ! No way. Won't happen.
Happy New Year !
Cron Job? (Score:2)
Its like someone has a cron job that runs this every year that changes the year and adds a different reasons !! It's such old slashdot I start imaging a beowolf cluster running the job...
Re: (Score:2)
This story always generates a bunch of clicks (i.e., ad impressions), so it wouldn't surprise me if the slashdot editors have just such an automated job!
Relevant tweet from last year (Score:2)
Slashdot on X: "Is 2024 the Year of the Linux Desktop?"
https://x.com/slashdot/status/1733606639608250839?mx=2
Nope and never will be. (Score:4, Interesting)
Every time MS has EOL'd version of Windows, we see this same question show up or someone writing an article about how this will make it the year of the LInux desktop. I've been using Linux since 1996, and I can tell you - sadly but honestly, that it will never be the "Year of the LInux Desktop" where Linux suddenly breaks out and get's insane mainstream adoption. if Linux does become very popular, it's going to be a gradual gain over many years, just like has happened since the 90's. And probably the most we could ever hope for is to reach parity with or slightly exceed MacOS as an install base.
My 2 jaded cents.....
It's not too hard to use; that's largely resolved. Linux is just too fragmented to catch on in a big way. There are too many permutations and flavors, and it makes it difficult for devs and 3rd party vendors to target. If the LSB base had taken off and we could rally everyone around one package manager, one package format, and one desktop and GUI toolkit, then maybe it would have a chance, but now, at almost 30 years of Linux usage, that hasn't happened and is unlikely ever to happen. If everyone wants Linux to go mainstream, everyone should get behind one distribution and one desktop. - but every time a good candidate comes along, everyone craps on them (ahem, canonical), sometimes deservedly, often not. We are like a community of crabs in a bucket; as soon as one looks like it's going to break out, the rest pull it back down and climb on top of its carcass. IMO, Ubuntu was the best chance for this to happen, and community infighting (mostly coming from Red Hat and the Gnome people) made sure to torpedo any chance that had of becoming the de facto standard. Sadly, I got tired of all of this and moved to a Mac as my main machine a couple of years ago, but I still keep my Linux box for dev purposes. THere are times when I really do miss my KDE desktop though.
haven't checked this site in eons, this is what I (Score:2)
Is it secretly april fools, or something?
Linux on the Desktop (Score:2)
[1]Compiz 3D Desktop Cube how to (Linux Mint) [youtube.com] (40:31)
[2]Linux: Super COOL 3D Desktop Effects! [youtube.com] (06:51) (13 years ago)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8UKuDidNQg
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze4J-0P7WHQ
Betteridge's has a law for that... (Score:3)
TL;DR: The answer is no.
Long Answer:
Just like Win98SE's life was extended by a dedicated community with tools like KernelEx... and...
Just like WinXP's life was extended by a deddicated community by modding the registry to get ESU patches, and then by extracting patches from Server and IoT versions in an easy to use way for non-tech people... and...
Just like Win7's life was extended by a dedicated community that modiffyed the registry keys to get the ESU pathches, and IS EXTENDING IT EVEN NOW by pulling patches from Server Versions and with 0patch...
Windows 10's life will be extended by dedicated volunteers by hacking the registry to get the ESU patches (so, until ~Oct 2028), then by using LTSC2019 (So ~ early 2030), then by using IoT 2021 (so ~early 2032) and beyond that, by 0patch.
So, for some people, the extra work to keep Win10 secure (if they even care about that), will be perceived as less work than the work of learning Linux.
And if in the interveening years, they buy a new machine, it will come with Win11 or 12.
So no, sadly, 2025 will NOT be the year of the Linux desktop, and neither will be 2026(when ESU for normal users end), 2028 (when all ESU ends), 20230 (when LTSC 2019 support ends) or 2032 (when IoT support ends).
Written from my MacBook Air Early 2014, With OCLP enabled sequoia, with the Kali, CBPP, and Zorin VBox VMs
Re: (Score:2)
> normal people won't do any registry hacks but might do Microsoft's $30 year of additional support.
I agree 100% with you. As a matter of fact, I intend to pay MS U$D 30 myself, to run Bootcamped Win10 on my macMini for one more years. Having said that:
Normal people will not do registry hacks, but normal people will run a tiny little script recomended by some influencerthat does the hack for them after ESU ends in 2026.
Normal people will not do registry hacks, but when their computers become virus infested due to no security patches, they take it to the nearst mom-and-pop-computer-shop... And when the mac
It's up to 4.04% adoption now (Score:2)
[1]https://gs.statcounter.com/os-... [statcounter.com]
Oh wait, that's down from a few months ago. Uh-oh.
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide
Hopefully not (Score:2)
My Linux desktop does everything that I want or need, and the bad guys leave alone to focus on Windows. May Linux never make it big in the desktop.
That was years ago (Score:2)
2000 was the year of the FreeBSD desktop for me, and 2009 was the year of the Linux (Ubuntu) desktop for me, and I was a (Windows) system administrator for a large international company.
Windows has always been a failure of an operating system to me, highlighted once more this week when a Windows 7 laptop lost the second disk frequently in a flaky caddy while trying to sync a mirror volume, and not a single error about it was recorded in the logs at any time exxcept the eventual disk gone error.
I've always h
Well people won't be buying new desktops (Score:2)
because of the tariffs
but that doesn't necessarily mean they will switch to Linux
Not until support is a thing (Score:2)
Computers need to be shipped with a choice. When first powered up: Press L to use Linux or W to use Windows. After that the computer is configured for that OS. Deals need to be struck with computer manufacturers and Linux distros as well. When you choose Linux you are getting a paid version installed that comes with tech support. We need a way to get money into the hands of Linux distros so they can thrive.
No (Score:2)
There will not be a year of the Linux desktop until Microsoft office runs natively on it. Sorry, but the other options arenr good enough. If they were, businesses would use them in mass quantities.
Pointless. (Score:2)
Nobody ever won a race by doing the same as the guy in front. If you want to win races, you have to do something the guy in front isn't doing. And, ideally, you chase after goals your opponents haven't yet seen.
Linux is the stuff of innovation and invention, but in terms of desktop-ness, it's going backwards. There is also no serious likelihood of innovative GUI work on Linux, the IBMers and Microsofters are working far too hard at dragging Linux into the 1980s.
Forget the desktop. Create new niches and new
foist pwost! (Score:2)
Microsoft ending support for Windows 10?
I never supported it.