Some interesting distro choices to be found in there. I didn't realize CachyOS was so popular
It just goes to show you. The only way to get the Linux desktop market share up is not building. Something better than Windows we have been there for a while. It's make hardware, put Linux on that hardware and sell it in a store. Avg people don't change operating systems. They change computers. Now if we could just get steam decks in retail stores. It would be a huge.
It was tried a little bit in 2008 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23565020
Microsoft/Google would shit all over any retailer that dared to do that today.
That said, Bestbuy did have an OS2/Warp on the floor decades ago.
I think SteamOS will have a solid chance.
We need a distro that has a 0% chance to brick on a graphics driver update. That can flawlessly do a major release update without breaking things and can run GOG, Steam, Epic.
Soon Linux will be big enough that stores will offer a selection of operating systems. It might be possible already to ask for a custom built PC deal with a discount for no bringing your own OS or having them install it for you.
Exactly. Linux will never become the majority OS as long as it’s not the default OS on retail PCs.
my country has had a law forcing manufacturers to provide alternatives to windows. many computers come with linux here, and we have a weirdly high market share for linux because of it.
Which country is that it sounds amazing
brazil
Ah that makes sense i know Brazil has laws to keep imports low. That's why Brazil kept the saga mega drive active for so long. So having Linux on machines makes sense. Since it's both an import and not an import at the same time.
thats not really the reason brazil does this. our restrictions on imports come because our ruling class makes pretty much nothing and rely on having a cornered retail market they can profit off of. just capitalism things, kind of unique but nothing really new.
back then, the argument was about "venda casada" (no idea how to translate this). its when you buy something and you are forced to buy something else on their terms to make it work. they ruled that manufacturers can't force you to buy a windows license from them when you are already paying for a computer from them.
instead of selling it without an os, many of them offered linux as an option and passed the savings on to the customer, not unlike some manufacturers are doing in the us nowadays. most people got it with the intention of reformatting the machines with pirated windows for free, but many tried it and stuck with linux. we got a lot of adoption for a while there.
Very interesting I learned something new thanks
Avg people don’t change operating systems
This is a huge argument, even Linus Torvalds said that many years ago. The average person just wants to buy a computer and use it normally for work, casual stuff or gaming. They won't make the effort to change the operating system.
Now if we could just get steam decks in retail stores
We can also get the Steam OS on different hardwares, just like the Lenovo Legion Go S
There is a non-insignificant amount of people who just throw away their computer when something gets messed up because they don't know how to reinstall windows. Not only do average people not know how to install an operating system, they don't even know how to learn. Many people have help, techie friends and family, but many don't, and they can sadly only be helped at scale.
Two of my friends switched recently.
They had none to very little experience with anything Linux before, their previous win11 installs just over bloated and the copilot bullshit pushed them over. Both (indie/non-pop shooters) gamers btw.
This is the year of linux.
I wish I could get my friends to switch. I even had one tell me they would rather use it if supported the games that don’t work (which of course are games with anti-cheat issues). But they at least recognize that Windows is getting quite bloated
My first one to switch did so recently. Gave him an open offer to help get going if he ever got interested, then proceeded to just go about using my linux system for our multiplayer gaming and couch gaming hangouts.
It took a little less than three years from when I first switched for him to follow.
My sister is also on linux, has been since she took my gaming laptop as her own, and she never felt a need to switch it back to windows.
Do they choose distros made for gamers?
One is trying Bazzite the other one is just classic fedora
Do they make much difference? Genuine question
Sometimes.
They tend to make sure stuff that gamers care about are up to date and working.
You'll likely need the newest kernels and software packages if you're running the latest gen of GPU and/or CPU, to get the most out of them, or even get them to work at all.
Wouldn't a rolling distro be enough forma that?
Some of it, yeah.
All a distro is, really, is a preset. It comes with some package manager or other, along with a collection of pre-installed packages.
The reason one chooses one distro over another, is because it's closer to what you need. I could install arch, and spend a day setting it up exactly the way I like. Or, I could start with Endeavour, and get to essentially the same state in an hour.
I'm familiar enough with linux that I could strong-arm any install into doing whatever I need, but at times, to get from preset A to preset B, it's faster to just start over from a known preset that's closest to what I want.
Rolling releases typically mean the software available is recent, but that's only one aspect of what your starting point could look like.
"Gaming" distros are going to be a preset that contains a bunch of configurations, defaults and software, that gamers typically care about. That steam is usually already installed, is an example of one such thing. The same way my mention of GPU and CPU support is only an example.
Maybe instead of "They tend to make sure stuff that gamers care about are up to date and working" I should have phrased it "They tend to make sure things that gamers care about are easy to set up and supported, if not even ready to go, out of the box".
Installed Fedora Linux 42 on my gaming PC with Intel Arc B580. Completed Steam Servey. Selling B580 due to miserable driver support and moving PC from a gaming to home server(TrueNAS). Still have my Steam Deck which I won't sell.
It's a shame more developers don't target Linux! Anyway I have been Steam gaming on Linux for about 10 years now and it's amazing how good games targeted at Windows run through Proton. I have many games that are targeted for Windows and run BETTER on Fedora.
Elden Ring runs better on proton/wine/dxvk then it does on Windows.
As far as I can gather, Valve explicitly advises developers to avoid targeting Linux when building or optimizing for the Steam Deck, instead focusing on optimizing around Proton.
Everything that is highly CPU bound (I am looking at you, Path of Exile 1) or requires a lot of Disk access (I have no such friends) have a good chance to run better on Linux than on Windows.
2.69% +0.42%
Nice, the meaning of Life. This would be perfect, if it was 3.69 instead. But we can't have it all, otherwise there would be no improvement possible and it gets stale.
I installed it on a partition along side windows 10.
I installed openrazer to control my keyboard and the next time I loaded it up only the number keys worked.
I'm not sure what my next steps will be but I'm enjoying it other than this issue, it reminds me of the good old DOS days back when I was a kid.
I'm quite impressed Arch comes out on top
I'm not honestly. As far as I know SteamOS is based on arch which should give it a massive boost in comparison to other linux distros just from the number of Steam Decks
SteamOS does not get reported as Arch.
I would expect Steam to report Steam OS as Steam OS.
They managed to differentiate Manjaro to it's own entry after all. It's Arch based too.
Manjaro is not Arch based. They use pacman, but they use their own repositories. They create a ton of issues that way.
https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Manjaro:A_Different_Kind_of_Beast
Although Manjaro is Arch-based and Arch compatible, it is not Arch.
Manjaro package repository
Stable branch - There is no solid rule indicating when Stable branch is snapped from testing. It can be anything from one to four weeks....
Testing branch - Testing branch is snapped from unstable at irregular intervals - ...
Unstable branch - Unstable branch is synced several times daily from Arch stable
Manjaro Unstable is Arch Stable
Google translates that as Intergalactic Bow Community =\
That's part of the fun
The numbers are 3 weeks old, but they are still good. 😋
Yeah i was gonna say, this is old news. The +0.42% is the last spike on this graph.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/06/linux-user-share-hits-a-multi-year-high-on-steam-for-may-2025/
To the moon!
Those are rookie numbers Debian GNU/Linux!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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