Why isn’t the Linux Desktop more popular?
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Linux is an awesome system. It's fast, it's full of various choices, it's stable and powerful, and it runs most servers in the world.
But on the desktop, it's been stuck at 1 to 2% market share for ages. We're seeing a lot of progress on the various desktop environments, on gaming, and on user experience, but it's still not really moving forward. Let's go over a few reasons why Linux should really have more market share on the desktop and a few more reasons why it isn't all that popular there, right after this !
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## Not a good image
Ok, so Linux is super popular and is starting to be well known. Developers all know about it, everyone using Android uses Linux as well, and it's really the only choice for any "internet of things" device.
Servers running something other than Linux are in the vast minority, and even Microsoft has their own distro for Azure. Valve is focused on bringing gaming to Linux as well, and Microsoft, of all people, is porting software to our OS. Surely it means that Linux is already the biggest OS out there, all devices included, right ?
Well, sure, if you're talking in terms of "shadow presence". Because no one knows that Linux exists apart from tech people and a few enthusiasts. An Android user has no idea that Google servers run Linux, or that Android uses the Linux kernel. Microsoft has ported 2 main applications, and they are based on technologies that already run on Linux, so it wasn't too difficult for them.
For the few non-technical users that know about Linux, they mostly have a terrible image of it. They still all see it as a command line hell, where there is no graphical tool for anything, where hardware doesn't work, and that could brick your computer, or will give hackers their data.
So sure, Linux is reaching far and wide, but it's also something of an unseen puppet master: it's there, but people have no idea that it is.
## Manual install
It is undeniable, though, that Linux is now one of the most powerful OSes on the planet. Graphical environments have gotten a lot better, with easier to use interfaces, a ton of simple applications, and some very complex ones for more advanced users.
The command line might be scary at the beginning, but it really makes using Linux something of a dream, a mix of graphical user experience, and some super powerful tools right at your fingertips.
GNOME, KDE, Pantheon, Cinnamon... They are all very user friendly these days, even if you have to re-learn a few habits from your previous systems. Graphical tools are everywhere, there are welcome screen to guide you through the experience, and cohesiveness and UI guidelines have made them really, really consistent and predictable in use.
The problem is: no one knows that, because most tutorials are still command line based! It's still an image problem: what use is it to have super powerful GUIS, if people can't find help describing how to use them. It's all "sudo" this, "apt install" that, Arch wiki and stuff. No one understands that.
## Retail and sales
More and more manufacturers have Linux devices preinstalled though. We have Dell, Lenovo, being champions of Linux these days, and many, many smaller retailers and manufacturers. Purism, Tuxedo, Starlabs, System76, Juno Computers, SLimbook...
You don't necessarily have to install Linux manually anymore, you can just buy a computer with Linux on it. Pretty easy.
The only problem ? No one will line up on Dell's website to pick the version marked "with Linux" instead of choosing the windows one, and save a magnificent 30 bucks in the process.
## Choice is awesome
Ok, but once people see how much choice they can get on Linux, how much customization awaits them on their computers, there's no way they're ever going back to Windows.
This choice also scares users away. People don't know where to start, and each distro pushes for their own user base instead of pushing Linux as a whole. Look at our mascot: it's still that cartoony, fat bellied penguin. Do you think people will take that seriously? Marketing matters, man, how much I hate to admit it. As long as distros keep pushing for their own version of what they think Linux should be, we'll never reach anywhere near the market share Mac OS has. Our communication work is diluted, unfocused, and our official logos are just not enticing at all.