this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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In StatCounter's latest US numbers, which cover through October, Linux shows up as only 3.49%. But if you look closer, "unknown" accounts for 4.21%. Allow me to make an educated guess here: I suspect those unknown desktops are actually running Linux. What else could it be? FreeBSD? Unix? OS/2? Unlikely.

In addition, ChromeOS comes in at 3.67%, which strikes me as much too low. Leaving that aside, ChromeOS is a Linux variant. It just uses the Chrome web browser for its interface rather than KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, or another Linux desktop environment. Put all these together, and you get a Linux desktop market share of 11.37%. Now we're talking.

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[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

What an odd boast. What is it based on?

MIT licensed software outnumbers GPL licensed software two to one or more in most Linux distros and elsewhere.

There was more MIT code in the X server than there was GPL code in the world before Linux came along.

And even Linux will never be GPL3 or even drop its exceptions. So, while it is ironically the crown jewel in the GPL universe, it is not even really GPL.

[–] doodoo_wizard@lemmy.ml 1 points 43 minutes ago

MIT/apache/bsd are bad licenses and people that defend them are bad people. The effect of those licenses are bad.

Arguing that non free licenses are too popular is assuming nothing can change.

Arguing that the kernel isn’t free enough to count arbitrarily sets the goalposts up and kicks right through em.

Bad licenses are part of the infrastructure that allow the bad effects we see in the world to occur. Opposing them is good.

You can hate hippies for their smell and unwillingness to get with the fucking program but they do be handing out Ls sometimes.