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

Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
massive layoffs at Microsoft
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day
EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
Links for the day
Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
Links for the day
Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
Links for the day
Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
Breaking what already worked
Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
"They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
Eventually people learn from mistakes
Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
Links for the day
Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025