Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Second Wave of GNU/Linux Adoption and Free Software Growth

Related: The Second Wave (of Free/Libre Software)

A plasma ball



Summary: Evidence suggests that more people are turning to Free software (there's also a recent survey to that effect, published earlier this month [1, 2, 3]) while proprietary software giants perish; the role played by the pandemic is measurable and proprietary software giants will struggle as it goes on and on

THE lock-downs across Europe show a sign of resurgence. The Dutch are taking precautionary measures, Liverpool is shutting down eateries and gyms, and who knows what next... it seems possible that tomorrow's announcement will herald the same for us.



"Many people work from home again (a precautionary measure), some never got back to work (or to the office), so it's harder to impose Windows on people."Looking around ourselves, there's a lot less human interaction; in stores, in gyms, everywhere...

The new approach is, each to his/her own, except tenants of the same household. That's the new 'street smarts' and it is no longer considered unsocial, just responsible and safe.

I've taken some time to think what it means for software freedom advocacy; it's not agnostic to it. Many people work from home again (a precautionary measure), some never got back to work (or to the office), so it's harder to impose Windows on people. We wrote a number of articles about this back in spring and in summer. OEMs are offering GNU/Linux on more ranges or families of hardware products not because of PR but because of demand. They're actually seeing money in it. People buy those things. According to these new stats, here in Europe 0.96% use Chrome OS and 2.1% use GNU/Linux, which makes a total of more than 3% on desktops/laptops (Android has Linux in it and exceeds Windows' market share). That's not really accurate or reliable as it depends on Web usage and what browsers report themselves to be (GNU/Linux browsers sometimes misreport all that in order to gain easier access to more sites; I certainly do so myself).

"OEMs are offering GNU/Linux on more ranges or families of hardware products not because of PR but because of demand."So, an unintended side effect of additional lock-downs, as painful as they may be, is people downloading software free of charge from the Internet. A lot of that isn't just cost-free but also free as in freedom-respecting.

Microsoft quietly laid off about 5,000 workers this past summer. I spoke to someone from Microsoft the other day; I learned more about how they silently sack workers, so 5,000 is in fact an underestimate. Low-performing staff are urged to seek employment elsewhere (or the redundant before layoffs) in order to misreport oustings as though they're "resignations" and then there's the 'temping' aspect. How many did Microsoft sack this past summer? Maybe over 10,000? It's hard to tell because they don't report that. They lie and cheat, as usual. That same source also acknowledged what I had heard from insiders beforehand about Microsoft faking financial performance, arguing to itself that it's OK because "others do that too" (IBM for instance; it got caught and penalised). COVID-19 has killed over a million people so far; it's also killing some proprietary software giants; don't believe what they report or claim to be their financial 'results' because they're consciously faking those. It's a bit of a Ponzi scheme, cushioned by government (i.e. taxpayers') bailouts.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Disinformation and Marketing Spam From and For OIN (GAFAM's and IBM's Weapon Against Free Software Activists and Reformists Against Software Patents)
All in all, this anniversary is just a PR stunt with revisionism
 
Techrights Statement: The Solution is Not More Censorship or Moving to Another Mastodon Instance, the Core Problem is Social Control Media Including Mastodon
Censorship typically leads to additional (new) issues
Links 30/04/2025: Censorship in the Guise/Clothing of "Combatting Deepfakes", Mass Surveillance Increasingly Framed as Catchphrase "AI"
Links for the day
Why Techrights Attracts SLAPPs From American Microsofters Who Literally Strangle Women and Rely on the Most Unscrupulous Law Firms
"the SLAPPs targeted at TR [Techrights] shows that Orwell was right: Journalism is about exposure, everything else are PubRels."
The Problem at the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Is Vastly Bigger Than Its Rigged Elections
Elections and election-rigging at the OSI are a symptom
IBM Allegedly to Sell More Parts of the Company While Outsourcing to India, Microsoft Now Goes After Unions
They both have cash and debt problems
Slopwatch: Google Noise ("News"), Linux Security (Slopfarm), and BetaNoise (Serial Slopper)
Today there's no lack of LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Links 30/04/2025: "Brian Lumley’s Necroscope Series" and "Death In The Afternoon"
Links for the day
Links 29/04/2025: Microsoft Infosys Layoffs, 'Popcorn Lung' With Vapers, Hong Kong Banning Possession of e-cigarettes in Public
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/04/2025: Hey-Hi (AI) Isn't Your Friend/Lover, Mastodon is a Mess, and Mandelbrot Programming
Links for the day
Just Sending More and More Threats Does Not Change the Fact We Got Abused for Many Years and Women Got Strangled
Wanting a "gag order" - or sometimes injunctions - by sending many threats
Links 29/04/2025: Water Scarcity, LLM Slop Backfiring Again in Legal Documents
Links for the day
Google Spreading Misinformation and Lies
Google is in the propaganda business
statCounter: GNU/Linux Adoption Surging in Switzerland, Windows at All-time Low
What happened?
New Video Report About Microsoft Cancelling Multi-Billion Dollar Projects
direct link to the video
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Free Speech and Perfectionism in Design
Links for the day
What Fake News Looks Like (IBM)
IBM told a lie. The media then just blindly repeated this lie.
Microsoft is Already Laying Off Lots of Contractors
cost-cutting at Microsoft takes a new "edge"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 28, 2025
China is Already Culling GAFAM (Not Just Microsoft Windows)
OS monoculture or "OS hegemony" may be coming to an end
The "Telephone Operating System in the Vatican" is 95 Years Old, Vatican Moved to GNU/Linux
Maybe Microsoft is down to zero already
If Tesla Shares (and Alleged Value) Fell 55% (From $489 to $222) in a Few Months Maybe It's Not Worth Anything At All (It's Just Gambling)
Tesla swasticars have turned from a "status symbol" into a "public embarrassment" and cause for casual humiliation
Coming Soon: Microsoft Fake Results, Mass Layoffs, and Silence About All the People Microsoft Pressured to "Quit" (So That They Don't Get Counted as Layoffs)
there will be more mass layoffs
Chromebooks' Adoption in Sweden No Longer Depends on Schools
School breaks are when classrooms are shut
No, IBM is Not Investing $150 Billion in the US and It Doesn't Even Have That Kind of Money
Here we go again... media as a vehicle of lobbying and misinformation
Leak: The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Does Not Consult Staff on Crucial Matters and Bypasses the Administrative Council (AC) to Do Illegal Things
violations against the EPO's very staff
New Leaks Coming Soon, We Maintain 100% Record of Successful Resistance to Censorship
We won't be told what we can and cannot say (especially when it's true)
Central African Republic (CAR): Vista 11 is Only ~0.2% Market Share
99.8% to go!
BSD and GNU/Linux Replaced Microsoft in Secure Servers, All Microsoft Has Left is LLM Slop for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
the FUD machine never rests
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025