Linux adoption

Operating systems based on Linux, also called Linux distributions, have been adopted by households, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governments. Android, which runs on Linux, is the world's most widely used computer operating system. , Android has 45% of the global operating system market followed by Windows with 26%. Notably, Android uses a customized Linux kernel with a separate runtime environment and software stack compared to the vast majority of other Linux-based systems. Linux runs on almost every type of device, all the top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world, desktop computers, laptops, the International Space Station, smartphones, smartwatches, TVs, and cars. Additional large systems like The New York Stock Exchange, the Pentagon, and social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) all run on Linux. Microsoft's cloud service depends on Linux. In August 2010, Jeffrey Hammond, principal analyst at Forrester Research, declared, "Linux has crossed the chasm to mainstream adoption," a statement attested by the large number of enterprises that had transitioned to Linux during the late-2000s recession. In a company survey completed in the third quarter of 2009, 48% of surveyed companies reported using an open-source operating system.…

Operating systems based on Linux, also called Linux distributions, have been adopted by households, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governments. Android, which runs on Linux, is the world's most widely used computer operating system. , Android has 45% of the global operating system market followed by Windows with 26%. Notably, Android uses a customized Linux kernel with a separate runtime environment and software stack compared to the vast majority of other Linux-based systems. Linux runs on almost every type of device, all the top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world, desktop computers, laptops, the International Space Station, smartphones, smartwatches, TVs, and cars. Additional large systems like The New York Stock Exchange, the Pentagon, and social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) all run on Linux. Microsoft's cloud service depends on Linux. In August 2010, Jeffrey Hammond, principal analyst at Forrester Research, declared, "Linux has crossed the chasm to mainstream adoption," a statement attested by the large number of enterprises that had transitioned to Linux during the late-2000s recession. In a company survey completed in the third quarter of 2009, 48% of surveyed companies reported using an open-source operating system. The Linux Foundation regularly releases publications regarding the Linux kernel, Linux OS distributions, and related themes. One such publication, "Linux Adoption Trends: A Survey of Enterprise End Users," is freely available upon registration. ==Linux adopters== Outside of traditional web services, Linux powers many of the biggest Internet properties (e.g., Google, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Twitter or Yahoo! ). ==Hardware platforms with graphical user interface== Linux is used on desktop computers, servers and supercomputers, as well as other devices like embedded computers such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino. Additionally, Linux powers the Steam Deck's operating system, SteamOS, which was created by Valve, and has many distributions/versions, such as Arch Linux, Fedora Linux, and Ubuntu. , a popular distribution of Linux]] === Measuring desktop adoption === Because Linux desktop distributions are not usually distributed by retail sale, there are no sales numbers that indicate the number of users. One downloaded file may be used to create many CDs and each CD may be used to install the operating system on multiple computers. On the other hand, the file might be used only for a test and the installation erased soon after. Due to these factors estimates of current Linux desktop often rely on webpage hits by computers identifying themselves as running Linux. The use of these statistics has been criticized as unreliable and as underestimating Linux use. Using webpage hits as a measure, until 2008, Linux accounted for only about 1% of desktop market share, while Microsoft Windows operating systems held more than 90%. This might have been because Linux was not seen at that time as a direct replacement for Windows. , W3Counter estimated "Linux" web browser market share to be 4.63%, while "Android" versions 6, 5 and 4 combined (which is based on the Linux kernel) were estimated to be 33.77%. The Unity game engine gathers user statistics and showed in March 2016 0.4% Linux users. Similarly, the Steam client tracks usage and reported in September 2025 up to 2.9% of users on the platform were running some type of Linux-based distribution. This is up from around 1% in May 2015. In April 2009, Aaron Seigo of KDE indicated that most web-page counter methods produce Linux adoption numbers that are far too low given the system's extensive penetration into non-North American markets, especially China. He stated that the North American-based web-measurement methods produce high Windows numbers and ignore the widespread use of Linux in other parts of the world. In estimating true worldwide desktop adoption and accounting for the Windows-distorted environment in the US and Canada he indicated that at least 8% of the world desktops run Linux distributions and possibly as high as 10–12% and that the numbers are rising quickly. Other commentators have echoed this same belief, noting that competitors are expending a lot of effort to discredit Linux, which is incongruent with a tiny market share: In May 2009, Preston Gralla, contributing editor to Computerworld.com, in reacting to the Net Applications web hit numbers showing that Linux use was over 1%, said that "Linux will never become an important desktop or notebook operating system". He reasoned that the upsurge in Linux desktop use recently seen was due to Linux netbooks, a trend he saw as already diminishing and which would be further eroded when Windows 7 became available (and indeed, Linux netbooks did fall by the wayside, though whether they were solely responsible for the upsurge in Linux usage is open to question). He concluded: "As a desktop operating system, Linux isn't important enough to think about. For servers, it's top-notch, but you likely won't use it on your desktop – even though it did finally manage to crack the 1% barrier after 18 years". In 2009, Microsoft then-CEO Steve Ballmer indicated that Linux had a greater desktop market share than Mac, stating that in recent years Linux had "certainly increased its share somewhat". Just under a third of all Dell netbook sales in 2009 had Linux installed. Caitlyn Martin, researching retail market numbers in the summer of 2010 also concluded that the traditional numbers mentioned for Linux desktop adoption were far too low: ===Netbooks=== In 2008, Gartner analysts predicted that mobile devices like Netbooks with Linux could potentially break the dominance of Microsoft's Windows as operating system provider, as the netbook concept focuses on OS-agnostic applications built as Web applications and browsing. Until 2008 the netbook market was dominated by Linux-powered devices; this changed in 2009 after Windows XP became available as option. One of the reasons given was that many customers returned Linux-based netbooks as they were still expecting a Windows-like environment, despite the netbook vision: a web-surfing and web-application device. ===Thin clients=== In 2011, Google introduced the Chromebook, a thin client running the Linux-based ChromeOS, with the ability to use web applications and remote desktop in to other computers running Windows, Mac OS X, a traditional Linux distribution or ChromeOS, using Chrome Remote Desktop. In 2012 Google and Samsung introduced the first version of the Chromebox, a small-form-factor desktop equivalent to the Chromebook. By 2013, Chromebooks had captured 20–25% of the sub-$300 US laptop market. By 2014, Google launched App Runtime for Chrome (ARC), which allowed certain Android apps to be run, it was no longer a thin client. By 2020, Chromebook's market share was 10.8%, placing it above the Mac platform; having found success in education markets. Dell created the ThinLinux operating system for the Wyse series of products. It is based on SLES 12, and it is made as an alternative to Dell's ThinOS operating system. HP created the ThinPro operating system. It provides a filesystem that is locked, and encrypted for hardened security. It also has support for hardware-based BIOS protection. Lenovo created the LeTOS operating system. It has the ability to be managed with the Lenovo LTM management software. Stratodesk NoTouch is an operating system based on Linux that is designed for thin clients. It has the ability to be installed on a variety of platforms, instead of being specific to a specific vendor's hardware. This includes PCs, laptops, and embedded single-board computers, such as the Raspberry Pi. It includes support for healthcare authentication features, such as Imprivata SSO, FUS, and fingerprint authentication. ===Mobile devices=== Android, which runs the Linux kernel is the world's most popular mobile platform. , Android has 71.85% of the global mobile operating system market. Although based on the Linux kernel, Android has very little in common with the conventional desktop Linux software stack predominant in most Linux systems. This is mostly evident in Android not using GNU tools but instead Toybox as the userland. Android software run on a hypervisor inside a Java virtual machine, and therefore is incompatible with most other Linux-based systems. ===Other embedded systems with graphical user interface=== Smartphones are gradually replacing these kinds of embedded devices, but they still exist. An example are the Portable media players. Some of the OEM firmware is Linux based. A community-driven fully free and open-source project is Rockbox. In-vehicle infotainment hardware usually involves some kind of display, either built into the Dashboard or additional displays. The GENIVI Alliance, now called COVESA (Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance), works on a Linux-based open platform to run the IVI. It may have an interface to some values delivered by the Engine control unit but is albeit completely separate system. There will be a special variant of Tizen for IVI, different for the Tizen for smartphones in several regards. ==Hardware platforms without graphical user interface== ===Embedded systems without graphical user interface=== Linux is often used in various single- or multi-purpose computer appliances and embedded systems. Customer-premises equipment are a group of devices that are embedded and have no graphical user interface in the common sense. Some are remotely operated via Secure Shell or via some Web-based user interface running on some lightweight web server software. Most of the OEM firmware is based on the Linux kernel and other free and open-source software, e.g. Das U-Boot and BusyBox. There are also a couple of community driven projects, e.g. OpenWrt. Smaller scale embedded network-attached storage-devices are also mostly Linux-driven. ===Servers=== Linux became popular in the Internet server market particularly due to the LAMP software bundle. In September 2008 Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) claimed 60% of servers run Linux and 40% run Windows Server. According to IDC's report covering Q2 2013, Linux was up to 23.2% of worldwide server revenue although this does compensate for the potential price disparity between Linux and non-Linux servers. In May 2014, W3Techs estimated that 67.5% of the top 10 million (according to Alexa) websites run some form of Unix, and Linux is used by at least 57.2% of all those websites which use Unix. ====Web servers==== Linux-based solution stacks come with all the general advantages and benefits of free and open-source software. Some more commonly known examples are: LAMP MEAN stack According to the Netcraft, , nginx had the highest market share. ====LDAP servers==== There are various freely available implementations of LDAP servers. ====Routers==== Free routing software available for Linux includes BIRD, B.A.T.M.A.N., FRRouting, Quagga and XORP. Whether on Customer-premises equipment, on personal computer or server-hardware, the mainline Linux kernel or an adapted highly optimized Linux kernel is capable of doing routing at rates that are limited by the hardware bus throughput. ===Supercomputers=== Linux is the most popular operating system among supercomputers due to the general advantages and benefits of free and open-source software, like superior performance, flexibility, speed and lower costs. In November 2008 Linux held an 87.8 percent share of the world's top 500 supercomputers. Since June 2018, every computer on the TOP500 list ran some version of Linux. In January 2010, Weiwu Hu, chief architect of the Loongson family of CPUs at the Institute of Computing Technology, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, confirmed that the new Dawning 6000 supercomputer will use Chinese-made Loongson processors and will run Linux as its operating system. The most recent supercomputer the organization built, the Dawning 5000a, which was first run in 2008, used AMD chips and ran Windows HPC Server 2008. ==Advocacy== Many organizations advocate for Linux adoption. The foremost of these is the Linux Foundation which hosts and sponsors the key kernel developers, manages the Linux trademark, manages the Open Source Developer Travel Fund, provides legal aid to open source developers and companies through the Linux Legal Defense Fund, sponsors kernel.org and also hosts the Patent Commons Project. The International Free and Open Source Software Foundation (iFOSSF) is a nonprofit organization based in Michigan, USA dedicated to accelerating and promoting the adoption of FOSS worldwide through research and civil society partnership networks. The Open Invention Network was formed to protect vendors and customers from patent royalty fees while using OSS. Other advocates for Linux include: IBM through its Linux Marketing Strategy Linux User Groups Asian Open Source Centre (AsiaOSC) The Brazilian government, under president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Software Livre Brasil, a Brazilian organization promoting Linux adoption in schools, public departments, commerce, industry and personal desktops. FOSS: Free and Open Source Software Foundations of India and China. ==History== Gartner claimed that Linux-powered personal computers accounted for 4% of unit sales in 2008. However, it is common for users to install Linux in addition to (as a dual boot arrangement) or in place of a factory-installed Microsoft Windows operating system. ===Timeline=== ====Before 2007==== 1983 (September): GNU Project announced publicly 1991 (September): First version of the Linux kernel released to the Internet mid-1990s: Linux runs on cluster computers at NASA and elsewhere late 1990s: Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard offer commercial support for Linux on their hardware; Red Hat and VA Linux have initial public offerings 1999¹: EmperorLinux started shipping specially configured laptops running modified Linux distributions to ensure usability 2001 (second quarter): Linux server unit shipments recorded a 15% annual growth rate 2004: Linux shipped on approximately 50% of the worldwide server blade units, and 20% of all rack-optimized servers 2005: System76, a Linux-only computer OEM, starts selling Ubuntu pre-installed on laptops and desktops. ====2007==== Dell announced it would ship select models with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed ZaReason is founded as a Linux only hardware OEM. Lenovo announced it would ship select models with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop pre-installed HP announced that it would begin shipping computers preinstalled with Red Hat Enterprise Linux in Australia ASUS launched the Linux-based ASUS Eee PC ====2008==== Dell announced it would begin shipping Ubuntu-based computers to Canada and Latin America. Dell began shipping systems with Ubuntu pre-installed in China. Acer launched the Linux-based Acer Aspire One. In June 2008, the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), a bulk computer buyer for students in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, decided to switch entirely to supplying Linux after Microsoft attempted to use its monopoly position to sell the organization Windows bundled with Microsoft Office. ELCOT declined the offer stating "Any such bundling could result in serious exploitation of the consumer." In August 2008, IBM cited market disillusionment with Windows Vista in announcing a new partnership arrangement with Red Hat, Novell and Canonical to offer "Microsoft-free" personal computers with IBM application software, including Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony. ====2009==== In January 2009, the New York Times stated: "More than 10 million people are estimated to run Ubuntu today". In mid-2009, Asus, as part of its It's better with Windows campaign, stopped offering Linux, for which they received strong criticism. The company claimed that competition from other netbook makers drove them to offer only Windows XP. Writing in May 2010 Computerworld columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols said "I'm sure that the real reason is Microsoft has pressured Asus into abandoning Linux. On ASUS' site, you'll now see the slogan 'ASUS recommends Windows 7' proudly shown. Never mind that, while Windows 7 is a good operating system, Windows 7 is awful on netbooks." In May 2009, Fedora developer Jef Spaleta estimated on the basis of IP addresses of update downloads and statistics from the voluntary user hardware registration service Smolt that there are 16 million Fedora systems in use. No effort was made to estimate how much the Fedora installed base overlaps with other Linux distributions (enthusiasts installing many distributions on the same system). In June 2009, ZDNet reported "Worldwide, there are 13 million active Ubuntu users with use growing faster than any other distribution." ====2010==== In April 2010, Chris Kenyon, vice president for OEM at Canonical Ltd., estimated that there were 12 million Ubuntu users. In June 2010, a Quebec Superior Court Judge Denis Jacques ruled that the provincial government broke the law when it spent Cdn$720,000, starting in the fall of 2006 to migrate 800 government workstations to Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 without carrying out a "serious and documented search" for alternatives. The search for alternatives was legally required for any expenditures over Cdn$25,000. The court case was brought by Savoir Faire Linux, a small Montreal-based company that had hoped to bid Linux software to replace the government's aging Windows XP. The judge dismissed the government's contention that Microsoft software was chosen because employees were already familiar with Windows and that switching to a different operating system would have cost more. In October 2010, a statistics company stated that Android, Google's version of Linux for smartphones (and tablets), had become the most popular operating system among new buyers. ====2012==== In November 2012, Top500.org's November 2012 list has all Top 10 Supercomputers as running a distribution of Linux as their Operating System. ====2013==== In February 2013, Dice and the Linux Foundation released a survey that showed Linux skills in high demand among employers. Valve announces its Linux-based SteamOS for video game consoles. Supercomputers, Japan's bullet trains, traffic control, Toyota IVI, NYSE, CERN, FAA air traffic control, nuclear submarines and top websites all use Linux. In December 2013, the city of Munich announced that it successfully migrated 12,000 of its 15,000 computers to LiMux Linux and that the savings in 2013 alone were about 10 million euros. ====2014==== In September 2014, the Italian city of Turin, the capital of Piedmont, decided to switch to Linux. In October 2014, the city of Gummersbach announced that their IT infrastructure now is based on 300 thin clients and 6 servers that run SuSe Linux. June 2014, France's National Gendarmerie has completed the migration of 65,000 to Linux "GendBuntu". In November 2014 Purism was founded as an OEM Linux manufacturer. ====2017==== In November 2017, all 500 of the world's top supercomputers ran Linux. ====2018==== In April 2018, Microsoft announced Azure Sphere, a Linux-based operating system for Internet of Things applications. In May 2018, pre-orders began for Atari VCS, a gaming console that is powered by the Linux kernel. ==See also== ==References== ==External links== O/S market share monthly estimations, based on internet traffic Operating System Market Share Worldwide | StatCounter Global Stats

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