The Year of Linux | bartman.pl

On the Gemius Ranking website you can see operating system usage statistics. In first place is Windows 10/11 with 83.29%, in second is macOS with 6.43%. Third place goes to Windows 7 at 5.14%. Fourth place is Linux at 3.38%.

Linux usage grew from 2.35% to 3.38% over the past year — the 43% growth mentioned earlier. In terms of the overall market, that’s still a small share, but the change itself is impressive.

I’ve been following the Linux ecosystem since 2002 (yes, for over 20 years!), since the release of Mandrake 9.0. That’s when I installed Linux for the first time, and I’ve been tracking its development ever since. Until 2017, I used it as my primary operating system. Then I switched to macOS due to the larger number of available apps (mainly for task management, calendars, and notes) and better hardware integration.

Today I believe the reasons I switched away from Linux before 2017 are becoming less relevant. Most applications have moved to web versions. They work identically in browsers on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

A lot has also changed in hardware support. Today I can connect AirPods Pro to Linux without any issues. A few years ago that would have been quite a challenge. The same goes for multi-monitor support. Ten years ago you had to be very careful when choosing a laptop (processor, graphics card, ports) to comfortably run two external monitors while also having the laptop screen on. A bad purchasing decision led to configuration difficulties, and sometimes parts of the hardware didn’t work at all.

The number of drivers added to the Linux kernel today is significantly greater than 10 years ago. You no longer need to worry that after installing Ubuntu, Wi-Fi won’t work and you’ll need to hunt for drivers.

We also now have companies specializing in selling laptops designed for Linux. I personally own an HP Dev One laptop, which was built specifically for Linux. I also have a Framework Laptop 13, which officially supports several popular distributions. I recently used a StarLabs laptop from the UK, which offers laptops, tablets, and desktop computers optimized for Linux. And there are also Tuxedo Computers (Germany), System76 (USA), and Slimbook (Spain). All of these companies focus exclusively on Linux hardware. In Poland we have Hyperbook — which officially doesn’t mention Linux, but technically their hardware is very similar to what Tuxedo offers. There’s plenty to choose from when it comes to laptops and computers that work well with Linux.

The distributions themselves have also improved a great deal. In 2026, a new version of Ubuntu — the most popular Linux distribution — will be released. It will bring many improvements, with its release scheduled for April (version 26.04). This year will also see a new version of Pop!_OS from System76. They’re working on a completely new graphical interface (instead of the GNOME-based approach used so far). The beta is expected to arrive in late September. I’ve also been following the development of the Omarchy distribution for the past few months — a system based on Arch Linux, designed for developers, offering many tools available out of the box or easy to install. It stands out with interesting graphics and a Hyprland-based interface (instead of GNOME or KDE). Fedora also regularly releases new versions.

So we have ever more options when it comes to hardware and well-configured distributions. The number of problems related to operating system support is much smaller today than 10 years ago. Using Linux has become more comfortable.

The growth of Linux and open source will also be driven by geopolitics. For the past several months there have been increasing reports that EU countries are planning to migrate some systems to open source — including operating systems. This is meant to increase independence from cloud solutions and companies outside Europe. This factor will also improve Linux usage statistics.

We’re living in times when the Linux ecosystem is much more comfortable than a decade ago. The number of users is growing, which means the system will be improved even further. It’s a good time to take a closer look at Linux and open source solutions. They are much better today than 10 years ago, and often even surpass commercial alternatives.