alt Hacker NewsI feel like this is a little nitpicky. Clearly they are talking about mainstream for the average home computer user as a daily driver OS. Even with the steam deck it’s barely touching 5%. It’s still obscure and mysterious to the vast majority of the population in a way windows and macOS aren’t.
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I know but I’m not sure it actually matters.
To many people the internet and internet explorer ( or edge ) are the same thing, and for almost everyone I know , the daily driver is the phone or tablet OS not the laptop/desktop OS. And I’m not even talking about the ones who live in a browser.
I started using Linux in 96 and for many years it was going to be the year of Linux on the desktop. It never happened , and I’m not sure it’s that important these days , given the gigantic presence Linux has, and the way people interact with computing devices in general these days .
Edit / clarification : there are a lots of computer professionals on HN, and as such see actual pcs / Macs etc a lot. Many people don’t and just see their phones.
The percentage of computers involved running Windows when you Google, Netflix, Amazon, Bank, Email on your Windows laptop is less then 50%.
With the steam deck 5% is around 300% to 500% growth over the last 5 years
I've been a techie my whole life, and for me, the mysterious OS is macOS. I haven't used it since high school (late 90s), which is when I picked up linux at home.
I was never able to afford mac products as a young person, and now that I can, I wouldn't part with linux.