Genuinely curious. Anyone know?
Based on what I've read on Zorin's main site and these forums, new Linux converts who want minimal friction as they adapt to Linux. Particularly true with the Windows app support they set up as a one step install for several relevant tools, since many people stepping off of Windows will have some trouble replacing everything they're used to with a Linux native application right away.
People who convert from Windows and Mac to Linux. Maybe more focused on Windows-Convert's.
I can definitely see that. Im a long time windows user, these days i mostly do minimal stuff... Maybe occasional gaming. Plex server for the house( which i installed Mint on) Im pushing 40 yrs old and im sick of apple and Microsoft with their shady business practices. I tried Linux a few years back and it was too much hassle... Zorin is decent so far, but still has a way to go. (Linux) really isnt good at anything other than privacy. Its not great for gaming like Microsoft is, its not good at audio production like Apple is. It hasnt seemed to have found its niche yet for the desktop. I mean how many regular folks even own a proper PC anymore? If you dont game, odds are you dont have one. Most kids have a Chromebook for school.
My experience so far is that
I'm glad that you ended this statement with "for the desktop".
Linux is thoroughly used in other areas, where it clearly is preferred over other alternatives. Many of the tasks that are taken for granted today, like music or video streaming, is done through servers running Linux.
As for what role it plays on the desktop, some statistics point out to tasks related to software development and system administration:
For ZorinOS in particular, I agree with what others have said.
On related news, Linux smashes another market share record for August 2024 on Statcounter.
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I'd imagine there are more people like me, that value privacy and are tired of supporting multi billion dollar companies that hates its users. Most people probably aren't even aware of a third choice, much less which distro or how to install it.
It would be interesting to see Zorin (or someone else) to work with grapheneos to make both things work together well. maybe have some very straightforward setups for things like immich server, etc. so people can escape the other ecosystems.
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Aside from privacy, it's also very good at efficiency. People complained about the increased system requirements for Windows 11. I compared a fresh start of Windows, then closing anything superfluous with a fresh start of Zorin, and closing anything superfluous. Zorin was using some 80 odd percent less RAM. (I calculated it precisely at the time, but it's been months.) That efficiency lets it run faster on old hardware and more responsively on newer hardware.
It's also generally better for security, if for no other reason than it has a smaller install base, so malware developers spend less time targeting it, and... well, this year has been an absolute humiliation for Microsoft in terms of security. You hear about the occasional problem that includes Linux (often in areas where it's forced to play by Microsoft's rules, like Secure Boot) and the xz utils issue that ALMOST became a threat but was caught before it got the chance. By and large though, where security is concerned, Linux tends to be safer.
All that said though: you're right. Linux still lags behind in desktop user experience for someone who just wants to sit at their computer and have it work. (At least until that user gets sick of Microsoft nagging them to back up to OneDrive...) It may always lag behind there, as the price of being a system built from countless components from countless developers. It's that "sum of its parts" nature though that lets people say "I don't like this part; I'm replacing it," which you can't do with Windows.
I think there's still room for improvement. For gaming, I think Nobara Project's Linux has the best approach, for example, but I've found it fussy and prone to instability. I very much value that it includes kernel patches and fixes for some Steam games without me having to do it, though, and I like that it uses newer kernels, drivers, and I prefer the desktop environment it uses. So far though, reliability and a preference for Debian based systems has kept me on Zorin. I can't wait for a distribution that provides me with both.
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Chromebook O.S.'s are based on GnuLinux.
That being said; the Desktop Environment of a computer is a separate entity than a Desktop PC. Whether a person owns a Notebook Computer or a Desktop PC, their experience with the operating systems Desktop Environment will still be generally the same.
i wonder if those are counted when they say linux market share.
That's a great question. I always thought of ChromeOS as being different, even though I knew it used the Linux kernel. But looking briefly into it, it seems that it's just another distribution of Linux.
For reference, when people say "Linux", it's generally assumed that they are talking about the combination of the Linux kernel and the GNU core utilities. However, it's possible to bundle the Linux kernel separately to create a somewhat different operating system.
The most famous example of this is Android (although I wouldn't count it towards Linux usage, at least not on the desktop), and I always thought ChromeOS would be the same kind of thing. In any case, the statistic does count them as separate operating systems:
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I think I just got bored with the nonsense that comes with Windows, and above all Microsoft's assumption that they have some kind of right to control of my computer; installing software I don't want, sending my data to places I don't want it to go, using the fact they control the operating system to constantly try to upsell me on their subscription products. Once I found out I could run mainstream games on Linux, I had no more reason to stay on Windows. I tried a bunch of distros, and settled on Zorin as being pretty friendly and coherent and slick. I'm sure other distros are great too, but I'm pretty happy with Zorin. It does everything I need and almost everything I want, and it does it while respecting my time, my ownership of my computer and my wish to keep my data private.
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It is a distro that makes it easy for Windows and MacOS converts. That said, I am an old Unix/Linux user who installed my first Linux distro back in the early 90s. I like Zorin because I have no desire to have a distro that takes me back to then. I love the beauty and simplicity of Zorin and lets me still have the power I need if and when I want.
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