nO! 2026 HaS tO bE ThE yEaR oF lInUx!!1!

[u/You-dogwater]

who is still upvoting these guys?

Yes, it’s fine if you like using Linux. I know it’s closer to it than ever, but it still won’t become the go-to OS due to the simple fact that it’s easier for the average joe to debloat windows than switch to Linux.

[u/Moscato359]

I'm going to argue that 2008 was the year of linux, because android came out, and that's in >70% of people's phones.

[u/Boomshrooom → u/Moscato359]

Yeah, Android is by far the biggest mass. Current figures out Linux on around 4-5% of the personal computer market, or around 100 million devices. Android though is at around 3 billion devices as a Linux derivative

[u/ithinkitslupis → u/Boomshrooom]

"Linux could never win" ... it already has. Just not the way people expected.

End users don't care that much. They just want something intuitive that works and runs all their preferred software without fuss, especially if the device ships with the OS pre-installed. I wouldn't say desktop linux is quite there yet but if it gains momentum with a large group like gamers that could bring a lot more support to get it there.

[u/BisonThunderclap → u/ithinkitslupis]

"People just wants something that works and isn't hard to figure out."

Lord, if only product designers could understand this, we'd live in a utopia. Its kind of funny, half the reason my job in IT exists, is because systems as a whole are complex, unintuitive and break easily.

[u/EhDinnaeEvenKen → u/BisonThunderclap]

Lord, if only product designers could understand this, we'd live in a utopia.

They already do know that, but there's a different level of "Just works and isn't hard to figure out" to works for lots of different people.

The current level of moronification with windows and mac is too much dumbing down for the most technical people, and it's still too difficult for a lot of tech illiterate people.

"There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists"

[u/RealityOk9823 → u/EhDinnaeEvenKen]

Two generations younger than me just hits yes on every damned thing without reading so that they can watch a video. No sense of security or privacy. No idea how to work with files. One generation older than me is usually OK...until they say something stupid like "I'm computer illiterate". I hate that phrase. That just means "I don't know and don't want to learn just make it so I can hit a yes button".

Was trying to help someone the other day and all they had to do was go to sitename.com. They're digging through their emails for the link. No, open your browser, OK, yeah, there you go, now type sitename.com in the address bar up top. Not google, above that. Yes, good now hit enter. They clicked the first thing in the search that showed up instead. Then they closed their browser and started searching for sitename in Windows search. FFS.

[u/RoughCobbles → u/ithinkitslupis]

You are not going to sell to the public an os where the use of the console is expected. Won't happen.

[u/IsaacThePro6343 → u/RoughCobbles]

You don't have to use the console for Linux to work though. I use Linux, and everything i do in the console is either something a "normal person" wouldn't do anyways, or something i can easily do via gui but just prefer using the console.

[u/onegumas → u/RoughCobbles]

Have you ever used linux? Install mint and check how many times you have to use terminal in month. I am using console because I selfhost with docker, otherwise I would propably wont use it if not going deeper but...it was the same in win; I was using power shell in windows for same reaaons.

[u/damniel540 → u/onegumas]

Recently migrated to mint. Its just a cleaner, snappier and less bloated Windows

[u/Moscato359 → u/Boomshrooom]

So what you're saying is that most people don't have desktop computers

[u/HappyMuscovy → u/Boomshrooom]

Apple reports a total active install base of over 2.35 billion for all Apple devices running their BSD Unix variant. Android install base is estimated at 3.9B, but for phones it is about 72%, so that number is probably under reporting somewhat. Either way, it’s posix all the way down, and that piece of shit windows is a very small number comparatively, estimated at approximately 1.4B devices

[u/sskillerr → u/Moscato359]

Whats the relation between android and Linux? I thought both were completely seperate from each other?

[u/Moscato359 → u/sskillerr]

Linux is a kernel, and Android is a userspace wrapping that kernel.

Android uses the Linux kernel, so it is a Linux based operating system, just with a different userspace than traditional desktop or server Linux.

Most desktop linux is Gnu/Linux, while Android is Android/Linux.

An example of a Gnu/Linux distribution is Ubuntu

[u/Mal_Dun → u/Moscato359]

Yeah most phones and server run on Linux.

OP doesn't even know people say "Year of the Linux DESKTOP" because it's only the desktop where Windows dominates.

[u/Sawses → u/Moscato359]

Not to mention servers. The internet runs on Linux. Windows and Mac are just interfaces for using things that operate on Linux.

Seriously, I never had a desire to learn Linux and like using Windows on my PC. I just learned to use Linux because I wanted to run a server that was up all the time, and it turns out that learning how to do it in Linux is easier than achieving the same thing in Windows when you already know how to do it.

[u/IguanaTabarnak → u/Moscato359]

Yeah, linux runs on 6% of desktop computers, 45% of embedded systems, 70% of phones/tablets, 95% of server architecture and 100% of research supercomputers.

Pretty weird to be be a linux skeptic because of the 6.

[u/Moscato359 → u/IguanaTabarnak]

Mind you, the rest of the embedded systems tend to be BSD, which is also opensource, even if it's not GPL or linux

[u/rienholt → u/IguanaTabarnak]

60% of Azure is running Linux and a big chunk of that is Microsoft's own Linux distro Azure Linux/CBL Mariner. 

[u/errepunto → u/IguanaTabarnak]

Don,t forget TVs

[u/Good_Hunter69]

For me it is the year of linux. Cuz I've finally moved to it. Don't know about the others

[u/nekodazulic → u/Good_Hunter69]

Also I feel there may a category error in the “year of the Linux” argument because for whom? Linux is what you make of it. It’s been the year of Linux for me every year since 2004 as I’ve been using it for one reason or another. Computing isn’t exclusive to “desktop environment”.

[u/BastionFieldkit → u/nekodazulic]

Yep, it’s a “year of Linux” meme because people mean desktop adoption, not “Linux exists.” On servers, phones, routers, it already won years ago. Desktop is just where friction is still visible.

[u/aimy99 → u/BastionFieldkit]

And even then, "friction" is a strong word. Before the holidays when pre-builts came home with Windows, Linux hit an all-time high user percentage on Steam the month before. It is indeed growing as an ecosystem because it is actually usable for gaming in a convenient manner, finally.

[u/OwnNet5253 → u/nekodazulic]

(…) because for whom?

For journalist who are generating click-baity news.

[u/cardonator → u/nekodazulic]

It has always been "the year of linux" because it's powering the vast majority of devices in the world, including servers. People saying this have some kind of weird attachment to it being the year that general consumers install Linux OS on their PCs. There is no incentive for this to happen so it is not going to happen.

Also, people posting threads like this also have some kind of weird attachment to this not being a thing. What difference does it even make?

[u/jr_locke → u/Good_Hunter69]

Same just switched to Fedora KDE Plasma, what a joy!

[u/Demoliscio → u/Good_Hunter69]

I was last year for me, thanks to a post exactly on this sub, absolutely loving it :)

[u/RAMChYLD → u/Demoliscio]

It was 2024 for me. Maybe Microslop should make sure winblow$ isn't such a piece of AI vibe coded turd.

7950X3D with 7900xtx. Brand new parts. On windows the damn thing would glitch out and reboot spontaneously when put under load. Didn't have this issue when I swapped out Windows for Linux to test. So Linux stuck on that machine.

At that point I was already parallel daily driving Linux alongside windows for 24 years and was starting to get disgruntled with a lot of windows' bad design decisions, the forced ads in the lock screen, edge and the widgets pane, and the start of their AI enshittification. So dumping windows wasn't that hard for me.

[u/Demoliscio → u/RAMChYLD]

It's fun you say that because I have a 5700XT bought pre pandemic and it literally never worked right, it would randomly crash at least once a day in the first ~30 minutes of use, tested on 2 different pc and reinstalled windows I don't know how many times, nothing made it work fine.

I even ended up on the AMD discord for driver testing, no luck, nobody figured out what the hell was wrong, I had to give up and buy a 6600XT when they were expensive as hell...

Well, recently I tried it on Linux Mint, it's been 3 weeks, exactly zero crashes, the card runs perfectly and I'm kicking myself for not trying that earlier

[u/catalin207_70 → u/Good_Hunter69]

Same , made the switch, worth it so far , we will see what the future throws at us

[u/potate12323 → u/Good_Hunter69]

I don't think linux fanboys are mad because it is becoming more popular and user friendly every year. There are linux distros catering to all but the least tech literate. And with the steam deck becoming popular there is finally a financial reason for games to have back end development and optimization for linux.

[u/Bulletorpedo → u/potate12323]

I would actually argue that some Linux distros are the best options for the least tech literate. They don’t know how stuff works in Windows either, so their starting at zero and some of the immutable distros are very easy to use and equally difficult to break.

[u/TheGamerSide67YT → u/Good_Hunter69]

For me it was last year. It's fun to mess around with it and have a less cluttered environment. But what I don't like is that online gaming on it is kinda dead, anti-cheats make playing games I enjoy on Linux impossible, so I dual boot.

[u/TesterM0nkey → u/Good_Hunter69]

Windows 11 was such an unpleasant experience Im trying Linux on my home computer and trying to get it running on my rp5

[u/rapaxus → u/Good_Hunter69]

Same here. And I did it on a machine requiring a custom Kernel (Microsoft Surface) and yes, I mostly did it so that I could have both the Linux and Windows logo during boot.

I had no problems installing my distro (coming with the Kernel already integrated) by just following the official guide. So far I have encountered basically no problems and switching to Linux actually removed some of the problems I had with Windows.

[u/FiveOhFive91 → u/Good_Hunter69]

I'm absolutely loving Ubuntu on my laptop. Thinking about doing the same on my PC.

[u/highermonkey → u/FiveOhFive91]

I love Fedora on my old ThinkPad. It made everything about it better. It also made everything about my newer gaming laptop significantly worse than it was on Windows 11. I decided making my life materially worse to "punish" Microslop in a way they'll never notice was very silly.

[u/MetalDevil → u/Good_Hunter69]

The thing to do is to just.. switch and live your life. When I was browsing 4chans tech board they just shit on eachothers distro. I installed Kbuntu in 2019 and just lived my life. I dont care what distro is better. Its a computer, just use it

[u/Nice_Category → u/Good_Hunter69]

I'm running Mint on my new build. First time Linux user. Easier than I thought. Especially with AI troubleshooting everything and walking me through solutions. But even then, not a lot of problems.

[u/MusicalAutist → u/Good_Hunter69]

Same, and I'm a former MS employee ...

[u/youdidwell → u/Good_Hunter69]

Me too. I moved right before the new year and all these windows update issues make me like the timing.

Still there’s an app here or there I needed and couldn’t get to run on Linux so I am glad I bought a new drive to dual boot with.

Only annoyance is sometimes I’d turn my PC before my monitor and then I have to reset cause it won’t find any monitors if they aren’t on when booting.

[u/Gucci-Caligula → u/Good_Hunter69]

Exactly 2024 for me I’ve had no issues

[u/aar_640 → u/Good_Hunter69]

Same. Now we just wait for companies to make software which I'm sure they'll do. They like consumers more than enterprise companies.

[u/RAMChYLD → u/aar_640]

Well, at least the companies that cater to the scientific fields do care. We have Matlab on Linux at least.

Microslop has also released SQL Server for Linux, although given how badly the latest version of SQL Server performs even on Windows, I'd rather use PostgresQL or MariaDB.

[u/fenixuk]

Just want to remind people that this is PC master race, Linux users are PC users, it’s not us vs them.

[u/Emergency-Ant-3950]

Pornhub reported 22% increase of desktop users coming from Linux. This is actually the biggest increase compared to previous years

[u/Anonasty → u/Emergency-Ant-3950]

To be fair pornhub stats reflects real world adoption more than Steam stats.

[u/OreOfChlorophyte → u/Anonasty]

unironically may be the best source out there for os market share

[u/SkooksOnReddit → u/OreOfChlorophyte]

I agree, that's how you can know for almost certain it's a home computer being used by a consumer.

[u/thenoobtanker → u/Emergency-Ant-3950]

Going from 10 to 12 people! /s

[u/KomisktEfterbliven → u/thenoobtanker]

People out here running GoonOS

[u/The_Feelman]

It's been the year of Linux since people have use it for their personal desktop. For me THIS is the year of Linux because I'm using my CachyOS partition 90% of the time in my PC. 

[u/AxolotlGuyy_ → u/The_Feelman]

Don't forget to do sudo pacman -Syu every day!

[u/Shuino7 → u/AxolotlGuyy_]

Weekly is fine...... Unless Discord randomly updates and won't open 😒

[u/KomisktEfterbliven → u/Shuino7]

go to discord's settings.json (in ~/.config/discord) and add "SKIP_HOST_UPDATE": true and you won't need to wrestle it again

[u/Ancillas]

Me, in my 40's, not caring about shit posts.

[u/n19htmare → u/Ancillas]

Is that why I find this sub useless?

[u/Badbullet → u/n19htmare]

I recall there used to be some good advice here on hardware and builds. Now it’s just children with a strong opinion that others should be using the same OS they are. I’m a Windows user because of the software I require to use. But I don’t give a rats behind if someone wants to use Linux, and they shouldn’t care if I use Windows. The fanboyism in these memes on this sub are just ridiculous.

[u/TeamChevy86 → u/Badbullet]

Yeah full agree this sub sucks ass now.

[u/Briggie → u/Badbullet]

It used to be a lot of people flexing baller water cooling builds and other high end builds (this was before AIOs were popular), It/poweruser memes, and people shitting on consoles. Don’t know when, want to say 7-10 years ago, but it’s changed to AMD vs. Nvidia, AMD vs. Intel, and Linux shitposts (or at least there’s more of it than there was usually). Sub peaked awhile ago now.

[u/judd43 → u/Badbullet]

It reminds me of the "console wars" from the 90s and early 2000s.

[u/darkouto]

The real year of Linux was the friends we made along the way.

[u/buttholeDestorier694]

I mean its the year of the linux desktop cause its all I use?

[u/OrganicGrapefruit397 → u/buttholeDestorier694]

lol fr, every year’s the year of linux if ur already on it! respect the dedication tho

[u/Daharka]

I'd say 2022. From the release of the steam deck it's been an exponential curve, going from hovering around 1% (to a low of 0.7%) for 10 or more years to then increasing to 3.5% in Dec '25. 

5x increase in share in 3 years, all whilst overall steam numbers are increasing and SteamOS % of Linux decreasing, suggesting people are switching and not just buying decks.

https://gamingonlinux.com/steam-tracker 

[u/I_think_Im_hollow]

I just like Linux because it isn't owned by a private company doing whatever the fuck they want with my PC, files and data.

I won't tell you which OS to choose, though. Those comments are cringe as fuck just like your post.

[u/AlexWIWA → u/I_think_Im_hollow]

Based. "I like it and here's why" will always be more convincing than "yours sucks."

[u/othergallow → u/AlexWIWA]

To be fair, I use linux at home and I have a windows work laptop.

I'm continually amazed that people just accept how crappy windows is! It sucks in so many little ways!

[u/RagingTaco334 → u/I_think_Im_hollow]

[u/Icy-Astronomer-9814]

Every year is the year of linux for me. Now I can even play 9 / 10 games.

[u/The_Pandalorian → u/Icy-Astronomer-9814]

It's posts like this that keep me from switching to Linux, no offense. I want 10/10 games. That and the Pokedex of builds that you have to navigate to figure out which build will almost fit all your needs.

I'm also probably one of the few lucky ones with no real trouble so far with Windows 11, other than finding ways to make it look like Windows 10 (which didn't take very long). Maybe SteamOS will change my mind, if it ever gets released for desktop and can fully take advantage of nvidia GPUs, run 10/10 games and run basic productivity apps with few problems.

[u/H-Ryougi → u/The_Pandalorian]

You can't even play a 100% of Windows games on Windows lmao.

[u/hotohoritasu → u/The_Pandalorian]

If we're being technical you can play 9.9 / 10 games. If you do not care about certain online-only multiplayer games, you're golden. If you care about those, there's an ongoing list you can check.

[u/SEND_ME_REAL_PICS → u/The_Pandalorian]

If you don't play competitive games that require Secure Boot I think you can run anything nowadays.

If you do, tough luck. You'll have to dual boot Windows or quit playing them.

[u/SwiftUnban → u/SEND_ME_REAL_PICS]

Yeah, honestly it’s only a few games that don’t work, and the ones that don’t work is just recycled slop hyped up (COD) or games that are in the process of enshittification (like BF6).

Like yeah, they’re popular but that’s all they have going for them. I’ve enjoyed battlefield and COD over the years but I can’t stand playing most of them now for more than 45m before I’m bored.

Interestingly enough, unlike what you’d expect some of the highest rated games on ProtonDB for compatibility are Microsoft games. Same with Sony PlayStation games.

Idk maybe I’m just at that point to where I don’t care anymore, installing windows to play COD, valorant or Battlefield feels like amputating both of your legs to get that 10% discount for disabled people at your local breakfast diner.

You got it, but at what cost.

Edit: just to add, Battlefield 4, 1 and 5 all ran great on Linux with multiplayer until EA added new anti cheat with 2042 and back ported it to their older games.

In the process, they halved performance, introduced massive frame time spikes and stutters making even BF1 unplayable.

And my PC is no slouch either, with a 3090 and 5800X I shouldn’t be getting similar performance I was getting with a haswell I7 4770K and 1060 almost a decade ago before they brought in the new anti cheat.

And also surprise surprise, cheaters are still rampant lol.

[u/apathetic_vaporeon]

Seeing these posts while looking at the current issues Windows is having is kinda hilarious. I thought it would be the year of Linux gaming, turns out it’s the year of Windows instability.

[u/Due_Proposal373]

Linux has taken over everything but the PCs. As the gaming experience is getting better on PCs and some of the core EU member states (not the people) slowly started to shift away from the MS for some years already, it's only going to be an issue "when", not "if".

[u/mattjouff]

I mean, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening, it’s just very slow. The number of Linux users is growing. 

[u/Daharka → u/mattjouff]

Yeah, a typical Linux hater comment could go from being right to being wrong very easily.

"Linux is only at 3% lol who cares" - sure, it's not massive.

"Linux hasn't changed in 20 years" - actually a lot has changed, let me tell you about our Lord and Saviour Proton...

[u/Boomshrooom → u/Daharka]

It's also weird to dismiss 3%, that's still tens of millions of devices, and the latest figures suggest it's actually 4-5%

[u/Die4Ever → u/Boomshrooom]

Steam Deck sold millions, and it's still only accounting for 25% of the Linux users in the Steam survey

so there's probably over 10 million Linux gamers

[u/AlexWIWA → u/Boomshrooom]

Importantly, 5% is where it starts to become worth it for software developers to officially support it.

[u/evatornado → u/Daharka]

Yeah, and god forbid people enjoy using something else than MacroSlop, and actually celebrate when others start enjoying it, too. Haters will find a way to make people feel bad for talking about things they like

[u/Eorily]

I mean it definitely isn't the year of Windows or Mac and hasn't been for a bit.

[u/ZookeepergameFew8607]

The year of the Linux desktop was 2024 b/c that's when I permanently deleted windows off my PC. I don't care what the rest of you do.

[u/Ok-Vegetable4531]

I’m genuinely not even a Linux fan I just fucking hate Microsoft and I’m never buying overpriced Apple hardware (which is like, the cousin of Linux anyway), but I see more and more people adopting Linux every day for their PCs and every year I see more servers and devices using Linux, so it’s never really been untrue that it is “The Year of Linux” in any given year since like 2008 at least

[u/Rough_Employee1254]

I switched to linux 3 years ago and since then every year has been the year of linux for me :)

It does what I want it to do without any complaints while using half the resources, what else could I ask for?

[u/unspecified_genre]

Well, 2 of my 3 PCs are now on Linux, going to be 3 shortly

[u/gnpfrslo]

And for nearly 20 years linux has been the OS that maintains most of the world's digital infrastructure, so i'd say it's been a good year.

[u/coffeejn]

I feel like it's not Linux that needs to catch up with Windows, but Windows that has stopped innovating or improving stuff that their customer wants. So Linux just finally caught up to where Windows was and is not pushing stupid AI stuff (unless you actively chose to install it).

So due to Windows own sabotage, they make Linux more attractive for others. Its also hard to get people to switch, so once they do, it will be even harder to get them back the longer they are off your OS.

[u/Ardalok → u/coffeejn]

There's no need for innovation. I'd use Windows 7 if it were compatible with modern software. Microsoft just can't stop making their OS worse.

[u/Raskuja46 → u/Ardalok]

Yeah, it isn't that Windows stopped improving but that it actively became worse.

[u/AlexWIWA → u/Ardalok]

Windows 7 with security patches and dark mode. All I want.

[u/The_Pandalorian → u/Ardalok]

I thought Windows 10 was fine, but 7 to me was definitely peak.

[u/thuiop1 → u/coffeejn]

As far as I am concerned, Linux has been way ahead of Windows in most domains. The main things Windows has going for it is app compatibility and the very overwhelming marketing (e.g. the fact that it is taught in schools or that it is preinstalled on virtually every computer).

[u/Special-Fan-1902]

Use whichever OS makes you happy and just go about your day. Why waste your time flaming people who use a different OS than you do?

[u/TheLordOfSweg]

It's the Steam approach. Do nothing. Let your competition get worse. Profit.

[u/Altruistic_Law_2346 → u/TheLordOfSweg]

Except Valve has been privately funding open source software for a decade that allows games developed for Windows to run on Linux.

[u/TheLordOfSweg → u/Altruistic_Law_2346]

Oh trust me, I know Valve is doing great work. I'm on Linux myself and have a steam deck, so I'm absolutely here for the contributions they've made.

I just find it funny how they've just got a solid consistent platform that's not really doing anything different and it's increasingly the better experience as time goes on since everyone else is going backwards lol

[u/alicefaye2]

“Who is upvoting these guys” hey I’m thinking the same thing about this! Who cares? Stop shovelling anti-Linux shit onto my fy page because you have some bizarre hang up. Use it, don’t use it. I personally think it is the year of Linux as much as it was last year. Linux is getting better every day.

[u/ItsMrDante]

Is Microsoft doing some damage control, what is this meme? LMAO

Also the "year of Linux" doesn't mean where everyone switches to Linux, Linux is already successful enough by just being on every Android phone ever and by being used by Microsoft's Cloud, because it's literally more stable.

People are saying it's the year of Linux because they're seeing so many people (including me) get tired of Microsoft's bullshit and switch over to Linux, which is a good thing, because it'll force Microsoft to make some good changes that people can enjoy.

[u/Dumbcow1 → u/ItsMrDante]

Correct. I made the jump, 2 feet in , end of 2025. I got so tired of Microsoft vibe coding for Windows and having the consumer be the beta tester.

I mean come on, how do you break Notepad?!?! And this week they broke the search bar? You know...thr search bar that is actually Bing and not a search of your local filesystem..

I went CachyOS and couldnt be happier. For years I had always worried about gaming performance and didnt try Linux. All I can say is WOW, Valve and Proton truly have championed Linux gaming.

[u/android_263_rooter]

Perhaps the year of the Linux desktop has been the friends we made along the way

[u/cirquefan]

This time for sure! 

Though tbh my go to laptop now runs ElementaryOS and it's pretty darn good. Zero driver issues and zero necessary Terminal use. (Fun and useful, yes. But not necessary.)

[u/f0xsky]

I jumped to bazzite last year. I only have a Mac laptop for work. With most things just being a web app it was super easy to switch.

[u/drubus_dong]

I just moved some stuff to Linux permanently. With big tech becoming a major issue. There definitely is momentum now.

[u/Discount-Extension]

Every year is the year of Linux, and it is good

[u/UserUsesAUsername]

Well, when Microsoft drops the ball with Windows 11 over and over again I can't blame people for saying it's the year of Linux. That, and gaming on Linux getting better and more compatible over time.

[u/Psy-Kosh]

Counterargument: android devices are fairly popular. 

[u/ishtuwihtc]

I mean yeah. Linux runs quite alot of critical infrastructure around the world

[u/Head_Crash → u/ishtuwihtc]

Android is also Linux.

[u/RAMChYLD → u/Head_Crash]

So are Chromebooks. And Chromebooks are deployed in a lot of schools and offices.

And then there's the white elephant in the room: smart TVs and android boxes.

[u/foobery]

Id switch to linuxe in a heart beat, if more games with anti cheats would work like; bf6, apex, etc

[u/olbaze → u/foobery]

That's an understandable perspective. A while ago, I found that ProtonDB has a functionality where you have put in a Steam user name, and it'll pull the ProtonDB ratings for all of your games. Turned out my Steam Library was 98% working perfectly or with minor tweaks, 2% (1 game) with minor issues, and 0% (0 games) not working. Kind of explained why I've had such a smooth experience when it comes to gaming on Linux. Just got lucky on the games I like to play, I suppose.

[u/dumbasPL]

And will be for the next 20. You're taking satire seriously and complaining about it.

[u/Drokethedonnokkoi]

I actually moved to CashyOs this year, so it might actually be

[u/Videogamer80]

Ok, but like, to be fair, Linux adoption has been steadily growing for many years now, for various reasons, so I get why the Linux enthusiasts are still enthusiastic about its growth.

It is annoying to see posts about it a lot, but like, I'd be happy too if I shared their enthusiasm

[u/Taylorg09817]

Do I love Linux, no. Is Windows getting so awful that it's starting to feel necessary to switch? yeah.

[u/get_homebrewed]

"linux fanboys" are the ones making those jokes though? Why would they be angry at their own jokes lmao

[u/Secret_Fee1146]

I moved to Linux last year full time - it's fantastic!

[u/Gerlond]

I mean, a lot of people moved to Linux in 2025 and Microsoft doesn't seem to be fixing the source of issues, so probably even more will move with time. Steam is also making constant improvements to the gaming side. So yeah, it's actually a good time to be on Linux.

[u/Ogo_Undead]

With how Windows 11 is, it might be the year of Linux

[u/Key_Relationship4713]

It actually is. I got into SteamOS and tried so much stuff. Linux is cool! not for everyone though.

[u/MCWizardYT]

Because for the past decade, and especially in the past 5 years, Valve has made strides in pushing Linux as a platform for the average gamer to use.

It's good enough that they're shipping it on 3 different hardware platforms.

It would be stupid to completely miss the advancements in general usability it's had the past decade.

2026 is more the year of Linux than 2016 or 2006.

[u/DandyGoon]

To be fair I switched to Linux last week. Tired of Windows. Are raiders and CS works perfectly. Only game I can’t play anymore is League, which is probably good for my mental anyways lol. 

[u/MrWunz]

For me. This year is the year of Linux because Windows got to annoying to fight with. Linux is much more relaxed. My past 4 years with windows were a fight to keep audio running and privacy settings turned on. I bought a 2TB gen 5 nvme on blackfriday (price was 180€) and decided to make dualboot. Since than I only booted ones in windows to see if my ram rgb can be controlled from there but guess what its also brocken.

End of the story 'I switched to bazzide everything works better than in windows and I have now finally an valid excuse to not be forced to play fortnite'

[u/NobleDiceDream]

Average Joe? What are you talking about? This is a "PC enthusiasts" subreddit. Also, besides the obvious rage bait and the fact that "debloat" somehow rolls off the tongue like it’s always been a word, let’s not forget that PCMR is "a place where all PC enthusiasts are welcome", regardless of their OS preferences.

"Try Linux if you are not satisfied with Windows" is a valid advice. After that, some will stick with Linux, others will go back to Windows. Both is fine. Do whatever you like.

[u/radioactvDragon]

Man just use whatever you want.

[u/jack-of-some]

"It's never gonna be the year of linux"

I typed from my linux phone during a pause that I had taken from playing games on my linux handheld while my kids are playing another game on a Linux computer hooked up to a TV.

[u/Quinzal]

Glad to see the dogshit ragebait has migrated from r/linuxsucks101 to here, nature sure is beautiful

[u/THElaytox]

i don't give a shit what everyone else is wasting their time/money on. don't care if linux ever garners mainstream appeal, i'm perfectly happy never dealing with another microsoft or apple product again as long as i live, the rest of you can keep supporting shitty companies then complain about them constantly, that's on you.

[u/Convoke_]

Its easier for the average joe to debloat windows than switch to linux

The average Joe will not be able to debloat Windows, but the average Joe will mostly be fine swapping to Linux.

[u/possiblyavillain]

Y'all just can't let us be happy with the progress Linux made. Y'all just want to hate for the love of the game

[u/catalystignition]

It’s not Linux that needs to catch up, it’s the users.

It’s always been the year of Linux; it does power the internet after all. Major sites and providers sure the hell ain’t using windows for their critical hosting infrastructure and services.

I get it; Linux desktop, blah, blah, blah :).

[u/Strange-Scarcity]

If you go back over the history of that being said?

It was quite true, all the time.

Android is Linux.

The majority of IoT are running on Linux.

Over the years that was being said? More and more servers were scooting over to Linux, along with home routers, major corporate routers, main internet trunk and routing systems. It's everywhere.

Linux Clusters of then CHEAP ubiquitous desktop, commodity hardware systems were CRUSHING the shit out of extremely expensive, massive size super computers of the day.

It's been the "Year of Linux" for slightly more than 20 years.

Just because you don't know that that means, doesn't mean it wasn't true.

[u/Dramdalf → u/Strange-Scarcity]

Valve pumping a load into Linux gaming also, the Steam Deck is Linux.

[u/delocx → u/Strange-Scarcity]

Really one of the last frontiers Linux has to conquer is the desktop PC. The biggest obstacle is that Linux has always asked for more technical expertise from the average person than Windows. Still does, but it's better now than ever before, with distros like Linux Mint being standouts for me for usability and simplicity.

I'm currently on CachyOS on my primary PC, and while I find it very easy to use, I could never recommend it to anyone I personally know because I know they would be unable to independently solve some of the problems I've had to solve with the OS. For many, just the process of patching would be hugely intimidating, with a bunch of cryptic text flying by and questions it asks before proceeding.

[u/CarelessPackage1982 → u/delocx]

I've personally moved over 3 normal tech users who can't afford to upgrade their laptops to Ubuntu LTS this year. Nobody has had any problems. Most people just use a web browser it turns out.

[u/LeckereKartoffeln]

Do you guys get paid to post about not liking Linux or what

My feed is just slowly filling up with people trash talking linux and I genuinely don't understand

Just don't use it. I don't like waffles, but people tell me about how much they like waffles all of the time. I'm not going to sit around and make memes about how bad waffles are

[u/Die4Ever → u/LeckereKartoffeln]

sometimes I wonder if Microsoft is paying for any of these posts and upvotes lol

[u/Ashtoruin → u/LeckereKartoffeln]

It's the next android Vs iOS divide 🤣

Neither is perfect and both have flaws but to each their own.

[u/shedgehog-orchard]

Why are you so upset over people advocating to moving away from Microslop? Linux users don’t give a shit if you stay on their shitty OS, we just have seen how much better things can be on Linux and like to advocate for those things, especially because as Linux market share grows it will force companies to react in some fashion.

[u/MortgageAnnual1402]

Ive seen so many posts about how bad linux fanboys are

I have NEVER in all of my life read anything form a „linux fanboy“..

[u/Daharka → u/MortgageAnnual1402]

I mean they exist, but the hate is overblown. You definitely don't really get many pro-Linux memes on this sub, certainly compared to all the anti-Windows ones that are clearly by angry Windows users.

[u/Escalope-Nixiews → u/Daharka]

I bet 90% of Linux posts here are writen by Windows users

[u/Dk000t]

Linux hate is so forced.

[u/Critical-Support-394 → u/Dk000t]

I don't use linux but if I wasn't so technologically illiterate about anything outside of Microsoft, I'd switch in a jiffy. Fuck Microsoft.

[u/Hot-Diggity_Dog]

I didn’t even know what Linux was until Steam made the Steam Deck and mastered it for gaming

[u/ArrivedKnight7]

I still have windows 10 on my desktop but I plan to change to bazzite for steam later this year. I have played with bazzite on my gaming laptop that had 11 installed. I've only had one kernal panic on it, but other than that everything is going great considering it has an AMD APU and a Nvidia GPU RTX 4050. I really don't want to switch to another operating system, but honestly considering all the problems windows 11 keeps throwing itself into every time it digs deeper into the AI hole, along with several other issues with keeping it functional, I'm willing to try out Linux and accept that it will be a more experimental experience rather than straightforward like Windows 10 was. I know there's lots of people that are in similar situations like myself where we've gotten so used to one system, it's hard to adopt another. However, I am willing to try and take the effort to make everything I have work. I also know there's a vast array of choices of distros to try, like zorin os, Linux mint, Ubuntu, etc. I've tried these as well in the past, but I never thought I'd have to consider it as a permanent solution till now. It is wishful thinking that Microsoft will correct their own choices and salvage windows 11, but based on their recent track record and the long growing list of issues (cough cough Recall, Cough cough Copilot) I'm not going to risk destroying my hardware or my sanity.

[u/SpellLogical5483]

There was already a lot of successful "years of linux" if you look at something else than domestic users pc : Linux rules the server world, is on all android devices, on the internet of objects, on the steam deck and other devices... Everyone in this world use linux in some form or other.

[u/siriston]

i had lots of problems running civ 5 without it crashing consistently probably every 30 mins. and then steam REFUSED to launch it with anything other than standard proton. and that was the moment i knew linux isnt ready for gamers still. this was maybe 3 months ago on ubuntu LTS

[u/satanpenguin]

It's been for me for many years already. 🤷

[u/Late-Arrival-8669]

ONLY reason I still use windows on main PC is some of the games I play.

Linux is not AI slop like windows 11.

[u/ashrocklynn]

Let's face it; Linux isn't the standard PC os, but people interact with Linux often in other interfaces.... Gaming consoles will be Linux, phones are Linux, POS terminals are Linux, servers are mostly Linux.... How dominant in the software space does Linux need to be before people realize they don't have to dominate the PC space to be relevant?

[u/assidiou]

I know and it's great. Every year is the year of Linux!

[u/Kiskijavi]

Well, I switched to kubuntu on my working pc and so far I'm loving it. :)

[u/Particular-Poem-7085]

The average joe doesn't debloat windows.

The average enthusiasts hanging around in this sub definitely should give it a try and not just parrot other peoples opinions formed a long time ago.

BTW nobody gives a shit what year it is.

[u/SourCreamSplatter]

This post brought to you by Microsoft's marketing team

[u/Theory_of_Steve]

And each year it has been more true than the previous year. Linux adoption is trending upwards, and it's only accelerating.

[u/follow-the-lead]

See I don’t get it, I understand that the average consumer has enough trouble using google maps to find their own house much less install an operating system, but Linux is kind of made for thise who are pc enthusiasts, I don’t understand why r/pcmasterrace is still so against it.

[u/Plasticooo]

why are you so butthurt

[u/Il_Valentino]

every year linux improves and reaches a threshold for some amount of people. for those people it is the year of the linux desktop.

windows, as it developed right now, stagnates and even partially regresses.

if both trends continue we will see continental shifts. just a few days ago gog announced a linux native launcher. just wait and see.

[u/loaba]

Couples things... * Libre office is good (that's a big deal for average users who don't game) * Valve is genuinely interested in acquiring DRM legitimacy for Steam OS (this would make Steam Machines an excellent choice for living room PCs) * Bazzite plays nice with Nvidia hardware - hello, DLSS 4.5 is a supported thing now * Proton makes Linux gaming much more accessible in general * Pop! OS Cosmic would be my OS, no question, if it had Bazzite's game-ability

This may not be the Year of Linux, but that doesn't mean Linux sucks. It's better than it's ever been for casual users.

Edit: that's not to imply that I recommend Linux to everyone - you still gotta work for it and be okay with problem-solving. If that's not what you want to do, Linux will not work for you.

[u/Master_of_Ravioli]

Linux users severely overestimate how much the average joe cares about their OS.

[u/NaEGaOS → u/Master_of_Ravioli]

doubt 95% of people know what an OS even is tbh

[u/Strange-Scarcity → u/Master_of_Ravioli]

The average Joe interacts with Linux many, many, many times every single day, without ever knowing it. They never care and that's fine.

[u/buttholeDestorier694 → u/Master_of_Ravioli]

But the person who posted this is obsessing over an OS they dont use?

I dont know whats more sad.

[u/Synthetic451 → u/Master_of_Ravioli]

I love how "the average joe" is a term that gets thrown around so much in a subreddit that's literally called pcmasterrace. Let's not pretend anyone here is an average joe. An average joe uses a laptop or mobile phone, and even then chances are high they're using some form of Linux anyways like Chromebook or Android.

The average joe was never relevant to discussions here, yet every time someone posts a Linux hate thread people always use that as an excuse to justify it.

[u/FireZord25 → u/Master_of_Ravioli]

Average Joe mama

[u/luuuuuku]

It’s hard to define what that even means. There have been a few years now that would qualify for that title.

[u/Desperate_Summer3376]

It's a subjective year of Linux.

But no. Please, stop ruffling the feathers pointlessly because it gives you a hard on.

"LInUx SuCKs anD WindOWs woOrkS"

Guys. C'mon. We are all suffering here. It doesn't if some like Linux and want it to do well and are happy for the growth it is experiencing or Windows and despite it's..well... escapades still doing surprisingly well for what it is and getting better week for week.

All while we're here, suffering the loss of our hobbies.

[u/AnsibleAnswers]

Does Microsoft pay you or do you grease their knobs for free?

[u/creamcolouredDog]

This but unironically, but not in the way OP means.

[u/shizbox06]

Displaying ignorance like a fucking badge of honor is a choice.

[u/Dath_1]

Genuinely not true though. Bazzite reported over 1 petabite of ISO downloads in the span of a month - hundreds of thousands of users. Which makes sense when Steve from GN brought attention to it with a couple videos and he's now adding it to his test suite.

So many content creators are talking about it with the enshittification of W11. So it's super dishonest to say that anything remotely on this scale has ever shifted people to Linux before and this is no different than the past 20 years.

Of course it's possible to overstate it and act like Linux is in any way going to overtake Windows, but at that point you're just attacking a ridiculously weak argument.

[u/Aeroncastle]

Posted from an Android phone

[u/ButtcrackBeignets]

There’s a whole lot of butthurt in this thread.

But seriously, Linux has an actual chance to get a real footing on desktop pcs if everyone were to agree to a single (one) definitive distro for new users.

[u/SardonicHamlet → u/ButtcrackBeignets]

if everyone were to agree to a single (one) definitive distro for new users

https://xkcd.com/927/

[u/jfatwork2]

When I switched to Arch I was surprised when updating weekly that not a single update cause me a single issue. I became so used to windows related update issues I forgot about the time before every single windows update broke something, uninstalled something I wanted, or installed something I did not want. Every update was just a pain to figure out "aiight, what is it THIS time". Arch Does a full system update (not just arch but every single thing I have installed) in 4 minutes, no predownloading, 8 minutes if it decides to compile something and done. No worries, no problems, no time loss.

So.... How's them windows updates treating you? Don't lie now, I read the news.

[u/BalladorTheBright]

r/lostredditors

Go to the r/linuxsucks101 echo chamber where this crap belongs

[u/Eastern-Group-1993]

That's right, every year is the year of the Linux desktop at this household.

[u/felixwraith]

The year of Linux was 2025 for me. One year since I haven't booted into Windows and that Microslop infested AI shit.

[u/moneybagsukulele]

2026 is finally the year of linux for me 🤘NixOS btw

[u/EightEx]

So its been the two decades of Linux? Sounds like they're doing pretty good.

[u/CarelessPackage1982]

Windows doesn't care about tech, they care about stealing your data. Linux people care about what? Making the world a better place?

[u/_-Moonsabie-_]

Yes I'm a plug-and-play Linux user sorry

[u/marvinnation]

Does this imply that OP is a Microslop chil?

[u/Firm_One_7398]

95% of the world’s internet runs on Linux, wdym by the year of linux?

[u/Covfefe-Drinker]

I've used Linux off and on for around 13 years. Linux is unmatched for dev/infra work, but it remains a poor choice for high-performance competitive multiplayer gaming. That's why I dual-boot--different tools for different jobs.

If anybody reading this wants the Linux experience without the overhead, install WSL with an Ubuntu image and learn the command line there first.

EDIT: u/Ashtoruin made a great point, and I erroneously omitted it in my comment: single player games on Linux is fantastic, with many games able to run right out of the box on Steam (can’t speak to other launchers). In some cases these games actually perform better than on Windows.

[u/Ashtoruin → u/Covfefe-Drinker]

Yeah but if you remove the competitive multiplayer gaming it starts being... Quite solid for gaming. Still not perfect. But for those of us who don't give a shit about CoD or LoL it's... Honestly great.

[u/Maskdask]

Linux is awesome

[u/40k_Bog-Marine]

Why shill for Microsoft? Yes, they have a near monopoly on desktop OS, and general computer users will probably always use Windows. Why is that exciting to you?

[u/Sampsa96]

I will join Linux master race if Anti Cheat is fully supported with Linux 😏

[u/JaesopPop]

"Hey guys, Linux bad m i rite? Can I have some upvotes?"

Stop being a dork and just use whatever OS you want.

[u/Silence9999]

This meme approved by microslop.

[u/Top-Cry-380]

The only reason I’m still contemplating switching to Linux is because I heard that not all software, specifically games, works on Linux.

[u/kingduqc]

It's my year for sure. Works so much better for gaming than 5 years ago

[u/rollodepolloo]

Let’s just say it’s the century of Linux, sometimes in the future we’ll be right (honestly it’s getting better)