I wonder what has the other half of the Linux market. Linux, perhaps?
ChromeOS.
Apparently, desktop Linux use measures 3.08 per cent, lagging about a quarter behind the usage of ChromeOS at 4.15 per cent. The problem with this is that ChromeOS is also a Linux distribution. It’s a strange distro, non-standard in several ways, but current versions are built on the basis of Gentoo Linux, switching from an Ubuntu basis some years earlier.
I’m not sure what’s being implied here, but the quote from the article is true. ChromeOS is FOSS, was based on Ubuntu (a long time ago) and is now based on Gentoo. Early versions of ChromeOS, which were basically just a full-screen browser, didn’t feel very Linuxy. But I think current ChromeOS versions look and feel a lot like using a simplified Linux distro.
I don’t have a strong opinion on whether ChromeOS should be grouped with traditional Linux distros for statistical purposes. But it is notable that Google maintains the two most most popular non-server OSs built on the Linux kernel.
Fair guess but without reading the article I will guess it’s not.
TL;DR: ChromeOS is Linux but it’s not Linux but it’s a Linux so count it as a Linux but not Linux. Half.
I guess this is a situation where the proper name of GNU / Linux is useful
Edit: Chrome OS is is a GNU/ Linux and a couple of “proper” Linuxes are not.
As far as I know, ChromeOS is also GNU/Linux (It uses full glibc, includes gnu utils and bash), so not so much.
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Is Chimera Linux not Linux?
my head hurts
You see sometimes Linux is not Linux and sometimes it is. Naturally, we can’t count non-Linux as Linux but sometimes we can count Linux as non-Linux.
A quick summary of this [frankly, rather crappy] article boils down to “I don’t understand, why people ignore the 4% of ChromeOS usage when talking about the 3% of Linux usage?” written in the most facepalm-worthy way, spamming fallacies like there was no tomorrow:
- “Which is also Linux, but the wrong kind of Linux.” - strawman
- “which means that [desktop Linux]¹ has less than half of the [desktop Linux]² market.” - ambiguity (“1” refers to a subset of “2”)
- “It’s not a typical Linux, because typical Linuxes are tools for nerdy hacker types, and that kind of OS will never, ever go mainstream unless someone forces people to use it” - begging the question + ad hominem
- “So naturally the Forces of FOSS hate it. Of course they do. And how do they express that contempt? By saying it’s not a True Linux.” - repeating the strawman again, for an ad nauseam
Also note that the same type of stupid reasoning from the article would also “prove” that MacOS is a *BSD.
What a weird hill to die on.
This reads like a high school essay made in the absolute last minute before it was due and the kid couldn’t come up with anything worthwhile to write about.
Or an essay written by ChatGPT without the student checking to make sure it made sense before turning it in
I’m to old to have thought of submitting an ai essay in school lol
It’s the year of Linux on the Linux Desktop.
This article is weird. They could’ve just said GNU/Linux. It spends more time speaking to the finer points of distinction between the userlands than it does the data or conclusions.
Android is linux with the goodness ripped out and replaced with a bag of shit.
As does the author’s head.
If Linux only makes up half the Linux market, what the heck makes up the other half? 🤔
We’ve had one Linux, yes… what about Second Linux?
The difference is that nobody in the FOSS world would celebrate if Chrome OS had 50+% market share. That would be a terrible time for FOSS.
But a good news for software compatibility on GNU/Linux, right?
