Why does Linux has so little market Share in the normal Computer World?
It´s not because it´s free. That should draw a lot more people in. Because it´s effort.
Let me explain: For your Normal Desktop PC - what did you do with Windows Products? You went in the Store, stood there, read the backside - chosen the Product you felt comfortable with or just what looked cool, or good for your Money. You brought it back Home, put in the CD, it installed - and there you are, happy. Everything - or most everything - worked.
What do you do with Linux if you are a Windows or Mac user? You have to get knowledge from Sites you never or rarely visited. You have to Download a ISO, first even choose a OS out of the many. Then make a bootable USB, pray you done nothing wrong - no explanation. That scares people away.
I toke the “Windows 7 Home premium” and just done a real quick and probably messy Design.
Imagine that on a USB or a Disk in a Store, you go in there, see “Linux Mint Mate” hanging there between Adobe and Office. You read the backside: “User friendly, easy, fast, secure” and it cost next to nothing - just really the USB Stick or the Disk. That would draw a lot more people in.
More People - more errors being detected, more software and hardware adaption, more Drivers and more attention. This is not about changing Linux itself – it’s about changing how people meet it for the first time. Just as a thought.
Ever since Windows 11 made it basically impossible for older Computers to be used, pumping it full of AI Slob and really, becoming a Center for Ads, people are ready to switch. And it´s all there.
I had a blast the last few weeks with Linux Mint and never, for a second i felt like i miss something, or i can´t do something, or it´s too complicated. compared to Windows really, it made my life easier. I can design how i want to use it , not how someone else thinks i shall use there OS.
The only thing it really lacks is some Sort of Convenience for the normal Computer User. If you make it “Plug & Play” and really, the possibilities for it are there, you instantly gain recognition. Computers may not have a Disk Drive anymore, but they all come with USB.
I see things differently. Ubuntu used to give it's CD's away in tech magazines. You could buy OS's of CD's off of distro watch. I got my first Linux CD Xandros that way. You can buy Linux in DVD's and USBs right now. What I run into is most people have never heard of Linux. Linux has no money for fancy commercials with people singing and dancing they are so happy with their OS. Also try to find a new laptop without an OS already installed. The ones with an OS installed are mostly MS Windows or Apple and the ones with Linux are targeted at developers not everyday users, so quite expensive. Now Chomebooks have entered the low price market with Google advertising behind them.
The real problem is how to get the word about Linux out there and overcome 30 years of MS fanboys FUD?
I am unusual. I hated Win8 and Linux was the only alternative as Apple was out of my price range. I knew about Linux from paging through a magazine at Barnes and Nobles and having seen that CD. I had played with PC Linux on a CD with the gnome 2 desktop. I am a casual user, no desire to learn the command line, mostly browsing, emails and my music collection of around 100 gigs. Some photo stuff too.
So how do we get the word out without a huge advertising budget, overcome years of FUD, have blank non OS computers to install on, and have manufacturers offer reasonably priced hardware? Word of mouth isn't doing it
That´s a great way to look at this. I mean, we are living in a great time for a shift in OS. Even Microsoft is some sort of “leaning into” this idea with there new Linux Shell? Not knowing much about it but, it seems to me like a approach of “Hey, you don´t have to switch to Linux, we have Linux at Home!” even thought it might be just for the enterprise Users or washed down.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, during the first big wave of consumer interest in Linux, some niche shops and kiosks appeared that sold boxed Linux distributions (like Red Hat, SUSE, Mandrake), manuals, and sometimes preinstalled Linux PCs. These were often either small independent computer stores that branded themselves heavily around Linux, or tiny mall kiosks and booths at electronics markets. They weren’t chains on the scale of an Apple Store or Best Buy, more like local specialty shops.
More commonly, Linux had a strong presence as a section within broader computer stores rather than standalone storefronts. You’d see shelves of boxed distros and books, maybe a staffer who was “the Linux person,” but the economics never really favored a dedicated Linux-only retail chain. The audience was too technical and too comfortable downloading ISOs and tinkering at home.
So, the ease of Linux killed the "storefront" of Linux. And with it the allure to the non-technical folks.
It’s as simple as Linux is too fragmented. I mean DistoWatch shows over 400 different distros, but even narrowing it down to the top 20 is 19 too many. Just look at UM. There is a huge thread here discussing the long term viability of this distro. If you were a Windows convert and UM was your first distro and a year later you find out it is no longer supported, what do you do? Is average user going to know how to move from one distro to another? What if the next distro also stops being supported? At what point does average user walk away? And let’s not even go down the path of software devs needing to potentially develop different versions of their software for different distros.
Most people use MAC or Windows at work and they will lean towards these when they go to purchase their own pc. Even for companies who let you bring your own rig into the company, I would be shocked if any company would allow you to have a linux machine.
While linux has picked up some market share recently thanks to the whole WIN 10 debacle, it is still just over 5%. At the end of the day @OldStrummer hit it on the head. With the EOL of Windows 10, Linux had the perfect opportunity to market themselves and throw themselves out there as a viable alternative. The only things I heard were from online magazine contributors who talked about whatever distro they downloaded so they could write the article, and quite frankly, they sucked at singing the praises of Linux.
So this Grumpy Old Man says good luck, but don’t hold your breath. It’ll never happen.
Where does the money to do that come from? Without money it isn't happening. Sure you can get some online tech writers to write about how great Linux is for free or a small fee or maybe some tech magazine the average Windows user never heard of but it needs to get on TV to be effective and that costs big bucks.
I do agree most people would rather suffer with what they have than to take a chance and try something new.
