thelinuxexperiment
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Patroncast S04E11 - Is Linux's desktop market share even relevant?
🕑 Added 2024-03-11 09:22:07 +0000 UTCHey everyone!
A mono-topic patroncast this week, as I discuss why I think the market share of Linux on the desktop is irrelevant, until we can actually be a viable platform for developers and paid applications, which we are not right now.
So, we'll talk about packaging formats, app stores, platforms, subsystems, ChromeOS and how it demonstrates market share doesn't matter, and more!
I hope you'll enjoy listening to it, and have a great week!
Comments
The Linux Experiment
Absolutely, we really need one major format here. It doesn't even have to be the only one that exists, but if it was used by 80% of distros and apps, then we're good. It's big enough!
Namoria
You can install Steam from Flathub or the Snap Store and buy all the games/software in the Steam Launcher itself. Small developers can do something similar: I installed Typora, a markdown editor, from Flathub, too, and I bought a key from the developer’s website to unlock Typora after a trial phase. So I guess that the purchase function can easily be outsourced. Adobe already brought Substance 3D Painter 2024 to Steam. If they wanted to bring more of their software to the platform, they could do so – maybe? I fear that this would not go well with their subscription based approach to things; I honestly don’t know. It can’t be the comparatively low market share alone. I agree. GOG sells DRM-free games, which naturally speaks to the Linux crowd, but CD Project Red still refuses to bring GOG Galaxy (their Launcher) to Linux, despite over 34000 up-votes from their users for this feature request. Couldn’t they just fork Lutris or something? It would be nice to have a GOG app with in-app purchases and the feature to write messages to your friends, sending gifts to them, and so on. In the end, I think your argument is right: The distribution of applications in Linux is too fragmented. We don’t have a platform and that’s the reason why so many are shying away to bring their software to Linux. Flatpak is our only hope.
SlowBlo
Haven't finished the Patroncast yet, so sorry in advance for being a 'headline reader.' :) It's a fun number to keep track of. Honestly, I feel it's up to the individual what relevance it might have. I'm glad to see that it's growing though which is probably more important to me personally. It's also not the allure to be 'more popular.' While it would be nice, the foundation is much more important.
