In this video I discuss how the marketshare of desktop Linux has been growing despite the free software philosophy behind GNU/Linux still being largely misunderstood.

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Mental Outlaw's resource offers insights, tutorials, and resources for personal development, productivity, and self-improvement. Readers can learn about mindset techniques, productivity hacks, and personal growth strategies. With articles, videos, and resources, Mental Outlaw provides  guidance and inspiration for achieving success and fulfillment in life.

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Linux desktop usage has reached record highs with 5.03% market share in the US, driven primarily by organizational transitions away from Windows 10 end-of-support and handheld gaming devices like Steam Deck. However, this growth stems from practical considerations rather than understanding of free software principles. European governments are adopting Linux for digital sovereignty, while gaming handhelds choose Linux for better performance and cost savings. The author argues that without consumer awareness of software freedom principles, this Linux adoption may not lead to lasting change against big tech control.

This Isn't The Desktop Linux Victory We Wanted

<blockquote>
However, this growth stems from practical considerations rather than understanding of free software principles.
</blockquote>
All those unbelievers and their practical consideration. They (probably) don’t even enjoy the self flagellation of fixing broken dependencies.

There are some valid points being made here. The understanding why the switch is needed is key. Not just because Microsoft (and others) is locking you in (they’ve been doing that for, like, forever), not because games run better and not because PewDiePie switched to Linux.
It’s because by locking you in, companies can do whatever they want with your data and get away with it (see the recent Mellowtel drama - TL;DR: browser extensions using that library scan what you do and sell it of to AI companies without your consent). By locking you in, companies can also decide how long you can use a product before being forced to buy another one.
This needs to be known as one of the main reasons the switch started happening. Not because of hype, but because of care about your own privacy, your right to own things you bought and the ability to use them as long as you see fit (or as long as they don’t suffer physical damage).
At the end of the day, the user wants a product that works. He wants to run it and get on with his life. The problem with that is, that it’s being abused by companies: “Our product just works (and it doesn’t matter it transfers out half the things you do into some arbitraty cloud you have no control over and resends it to multiple companies so that we can target ads based on what you do… and we’ll kill it when we see fit… oops, you’re not supposed to read that… 😉)”.
And why do I think this is a problem for the companies? One example would be the “Stop Killing Games” initiative. The moment the petition reached the goal, corporate game developers already went against it in a joint statement. They’re so affraid of this, they didn’t even wait for the petition to actually start being processed - the sheer fact that the required number of signatures was hit sent them into panic mode. 😁 And that’s basically it: they’ll do anything to defend their profits and their investors profits. Customers are third-rate citizens. 😉

Absolutely agree! One big issue is that too many people simply aren’t aware of what’s possible with Linux today. There’s still this outdated perception that it’s only for techies or server admins. I recently switched from using a Mac for my work to an Ubuntu Linux setup, and honestly — I’m blown away. It’s fast, flexible, looks great, and the freedom it gives you is refreshing. Things have improved so much, and I’m genuinely enjoying the experience.

You can’t start a grassroots movement without people, and if we want to have passionate people using FOSS, we need to start with just having the people.
Torvalds brought the neckbeards. Canonical and Red-Hat - like them or not - brought the businesses.
Now let’s see if the EU and Valve can bring the common man.