this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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I suspect retention would actually be better for Linux. I used to be addicted to reddit before switching to Lemmy. Now I'm less addicted and don't check it as much as I used to check reddit. With a computer, making the switch means you've made the switch. Some people will dual-boot and go back to windows for some essential software but once you make the transition, you're still going to use your computer.
There's no such thing as a permanent transition when it comes to software, and the data (statcounter, wikimedia stats and even steam stats) shows a decline recently, whether we want it or not. A lot of people might have ended giving up and installing windows 11. I'd love to see linux stats go up and swallow windows. like almost everyone around here, but we got to be realistic. Our personal experiences are very biased, so that's why we need to rely on data, which tends to be less biased.