Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
Report: Over 33 Million Desktop Linux users, worldwide
A detailed analysis of all available Desktop Linux market share metrics.
December 22, 2022
post photo preview
 

Measuring the market share of Linux has been an elusive goal since the beginning of Linux itself — with most attempts at understanding the total number of Linux users based on nothing more than “Star maths and wishy thinking.”

There are three core questions which we seek to answer:

  1. What is the actual market share of Desktop Linux, when compared to other Operating Systems?

  2. How many active Desktop Linux users are there (not as a percentage… but real numbers)?

  3. How many active users are there for each Linux Distribution?

Let’s set out to solve each of those as accurately as possible.

Spoiler: We answer the first two questions with some authority, but the third question remains… murky.

 

What type of Linux are we measuring?

When we’re talking about Linux Marketshare, the first thing we need to do is define what we mean by Linux.

Linux on servers? On desktops? On mobile phones (like Android)? Does ChromeOS (which is based on Linux) count?

Since we’re attempting to answer a long-standing question about the size of the current Linux user-base, let’s keep things laser focused on simply “Desktop or Laptop computers running a standard Linux distribution.”

No servers. No mobile phones. No ChromeOS.

What is the Linux Market share?

When measuring the percentage market share of Linux, there are two key methods available to us (that both have their advantages and disadvantages).

  1. Measuring web browser usage across a number of high traffic websites.

The advantage here is that we have a large sample size to pull our data from — all users of web browsers on desktop style computers (read: laptops and desktops). This means we are including users of all kinds.

The disadvantage is that this only counts people who have their systems online — luckily, in 2022, that can be safely assumed to be most systems used by most people.

  1. Measuring based on usage of key applications or digital software stores.

A good example of this method is the monthly “Steam Survey.” This allows us to see details of how many people — who actively use the Steam game store — use various Linux distributions.

This is great as it provides far more details… but also gives us a far, far smaller sample size (read: people who are actively using their Linux desktop PC to play games using the Steam store).

Let’s use multiple options to give us the largest amount of data possible:

  • Statcounter and Statista (which both provide measurements based on web browser usage)

  • and the Steam Survey

 
The Linux desktop marketshare as of November, 2022.

Those put Desktop Linux market share at the following levels:

  • Statcounter: 2.77%

  • Steam Survey: 1.44%

  • Statista: 2.42%

While there have been many measurements over the last two years that have shown a spike in market share… those spikes have tended to be temporary blips. Which suggests they were simply erroneous measurements or temporary changes.

And, while the available stats do tend to change from month to month, the stats have been in the ranges shown above — consistently — for many months.

Based on all available data, the following things are safe to assume:

  1. Linux market share among Steam users is hovering around 1.4%.

  2. Linux market share among web browser users is between 2.4% and 2.8%.

Now comes the tricky part…

How many Linux users exist?

Now that we have a market share range (with a small variance), we need to figure out how many people that actually is.

Let’s start with figuring this out for Steam Users (as we have far more detailed stats on that).

 

During peak hours there are around 28 Million people online, actively using Steam — with a total Monthly Active User count of roughly 132 Million.

We know that 1.4% of those people are using Linux.

In other words…

There are roughly 1,848,000 people who use Linux, every month, to play games on Steam.

Now, let’s move over to the Web Browser based statistics.

Statista puts the total number of desktop (or laptop) computers in use, in the USA, at around 61.76 Million.

But, of course, that’s just the USA. We need world-wide stats.

Gartner currently counts the Worldwide total install base of Desktop PCs at 470 Million and Laptop PCs at 929 Million.

That’s a grand total of 1.399 Billion PCs (Desktops or Laptops) currently in use (in some capacity) around the world.

Which means, considering the 2.4% and 2.8% range, the total Linux desktop user base is between…

33.57 Million and 39.17 Million. World-wide.

Or, at least that’s how many Desktop Linux installations exist. Even if you consider that many Linux users may have multiple Desktop Linux installations in use at any one time… that is…

Not too shabby!

How many users does each Linux Distribution have?

Now, let’s break this down further. Let’s figure out how many people use each Linux distribution.

This is the really tricky part.

The reality is, there is no consistent way that all major Linux distributions use to measure usage — and not all distribution makers publish such statistics at all.

Luckily, things are a little easier when talking about Steam users… as Steam publishes those details. Let’s tackle that first.

 
  • Ubuntu: 201,247

  • SteamOS: 476,229

  • Arch: 173,157

  • Manjaro: 124,185

  • Pop!_OS: 68,560

  • Linux Mint: 72,072

  • Unknown Linux Distribution: 624,808

Now. Here’s a little gotcha.

Those SteamOS users listed above? Nearly 100% of those (based on hardware stats listed on Steam) are not actually Desktop Linux users… they are using the Steam Deck handheld (which has internals similar to a laptop and reports as such within Steam).

Thus… If we are sticking to strictly Desktops and Laptops, we need to remove those device counts from our Steam total.

Meaning there are not actually 1,848,000 Desktop Linux machines running Steam every month (as we previously discovered). That number, in reality, is 1,371,771.

Based on this Steam data, we also know that there are at least 201,247 Ubuntu users, and 173,157 Arch users, that play games on Steam.

But what about that global number of 33.57 Million to 39.17 Million Linux desktops? How does that break down for each Linux Distribution?

We’re going to need to break down each Distro individually, as each handles measurements in different ways.

openSUSE

Disclaimer: This author used to hold an elected position on the openSUSE Board… but has not had any involvement with openSUSE for a number of years.

openSUSE, one of the oldest Linux distributions, is one of the easiest to measure at it measures connections to their software update repository server.

This is made as accurate as possible by creating a unique (but anonymous) identifier which the package manager includes in the server logs. By doing this openSUSE is able to see roughly how many active installations they have for every individual version of the operating system.

 
Total active users of every recent openSUSE version.

In order to get the most accurate look at how many active users of openSUSE there currently are, we are looking at the total number of unique machines that have used those update servers over the last 90 days.

We’ll also combine together all versions of openSUSE. Old versions and new.

The result?

There are 234,434 active installations of openSUSE. Which works out to roughly 0.7% of the total Linux install-base.

Now, the problem here is that this counts all of the ways openSUSE might be used. As a Desktop or as a Server. Or even an embedded device. But getting this number helps get us closer. We at least have a ballpark to work with.

Fedora

The Fedora Project also provides some valuable statistics — somewhat similar to how openSUSE handles things.

 

As of the beginning of 2022, based on this method of counting, there were roughly 480,000 installations of Fedora in total. Or, put another way, 1.43% of all Desktop Linux systems.

Again, like openSUSE, this include all uses of Fedora… including as a server.

Ubuntu

Measuring Ubuntu is much trickier, as the company behind Ubuntu (Canonical) likes to keep things close to their chest. Sneaky, sneaky.

Back in 2016, the Ubuntu team posted their most recent public data. In it they stated the following:

 

“More people use Ubuntu than anyone knows!” says Ubuntu.

That line makes me chuckle. Because we certainly don’t know how many people use Ubuntu. And… maybe they don’t either.

“Hundreds of millions of PCs, servers, devices, virtual machines, and containers.”

Whew! That’s a big number.

But it also includes every type of Ubuntu installation smashed together (not just Desktop). And it is incredibly vague. Is it 200 million? 500 million? Who knows! Canonical doesn’t want that number public, it seems.

Or, perhaps, they truly don’t know. Which is entirely possible considering the vast number of ways folks can obtain, install, and update a Linux system.

Since we can’t get any hard numbers from the Ubuntu team, let’s come at this from another direction.

Measuring the Gamers

Many sources claim that Ubuntu has between 30% and 43% of the overall Linux Desktop market.

However, The Lunduke Journal (and others) have noted a dramatic drop, over the last 2 to 3 years, in Ubuntu market share among those who play video games on their Linux Desktop.

 
Graph courtesy of BoilingSteam.com, data courtesy of ProtonDB.

Note that, in the most recent numbers, Ubuntu is clocking in at 15.5%. That number is nearly identical to the percentage we got from Steam (15.9%) — after we remove the SteamDeck hardware numbers which were throwing us off initially.

Other items in this chart don’t line up quite as well with Steam, however. Arch, for example, here shows over 22%. Whereas in Steam the number 13.7%.

But, since we actually have two data sources that line up for Ubuntu — and are both based on actual measured data — let’s plug that percentage in and see where that puts us.

As it turns out, that would put Ubuntu as having (give or take) roughly 5,337,630 desktop users.

Mint, Arch, and the rest…

In fact… we need to rely on those same stats to flesh out numbers for most of the remaining major distributions.

Mint Linux claims “Millions” but does not provide any additional details whatsoever. Arch Linux does no tracking of any kind.

That said, using the numbers from the above chart (which does have at least some basis in reality), results in these installation numbers:

  • Mint: 2,517,750

  • Manjaro: 5,975,460

  • Debian: 1,342,800

  • Pop!_OS: 3,826,980

  • Arch: 7,620,390

  • Ubuntu: 5,337,630

The Distro numbers remain… a Mess

Let’s be honest. Those Distro-specific numbers are fuzzy, at best.

Even the Fedora and openSUSE usage statistics — which we have hard data on — are difficult to speak with certainty on as we can’t discern what percentage are Desktop, Server, or otherwise.

For example, if we use the same methodology above to discern the number of Desktop Fedora installations, the number comes out to 2,047,770 — nearly four times what we know the total install base of Fedora to actually be!

Are the rest of the Linux Distribution numbers above inflated? Deflated? Spot on? Without more information from Linux Distribution makers, it is nearly impossible to know.

What we actually know

That said, there are a number of things we can point to with relative certainty.

  • There are 1,371,771 Desktop Linux users that actively play games using Steam.

  • There are between 33.57 Million and 39.17 Million Desktop or Laptop PCs, with Linux installed, in active usage. World wide.

  • There are roughly 480,000 installations of Fedora and 234,434 of openSUSE (of varying types).

  • Ubuntu is currently the most popular (non-SteamDeck) Linux distribution on Steam. Though only by a slim margin — with Arch right behind it (and the vast majority of Linux distributions on Steam reporting as “Unknown”).

These numbers are as of the end of 2022. It will be interesting to revisit these statistics one year from now to see how they change.

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
8
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
GNOME Foundation Discusses Refusing Funds from Framework Computer

Framework Computer is offering monthly financial support to the GNOME Foundation. Framework also supports Omarchy Linux & Hyprland, which GNOME activists call "Fascist", so GNOME may refuse those funds.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:09:00
The Confidential Communication from UK's Ofcom to 4Chan

The lawyer representing 4chan has provided documents sent by the UK's Office of Communications (marked CONFIDENTIAL). And they are absolutely wild.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:19:31
October 16, 2025
No, Em Dash is Not Indicative of AI Generated Text

The Em Dash ( — ) has been in use for centuries by some of the most renowned writers — from journalists to classic literature to modern Sci-Fi authors. Not a good way to identify AI output.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:12:06
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

Locals has some serious issues with notifications and it is seriously getting annoying. How can the folks behind this platform not have noticed and fixed it already?

Anyone down for some Fujinet 5-Card Stud, or Yahtzee?

post photo preview

8-bit week starts at midnight, where ever you might be. Head over to the forum and join in! Or, you know, just do it here. We'll run it until 11:59 PM 26 October 2025. Please tag your posts with "#8-bit-week" and I'll try to post a daily-ish summary.

post photo preview
October 15, 2025
post photo preview
The Unpublished Anti-Lunduke Hit-Piece
A Tech Journalist interviewed me for a hit-piece article. But the questions made them look bad, and they shelved the story. So I'm publishing their hit-piece for them.

Back in September, shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I was contacted by a Tech Journalist writing for FossForce.com (a smaller, Open Source focused publication) who was working on an article around Open Source, Antifa, and the Lunduke Journal’s coverage of those topics.

This particular outlet had, several months prior, run an “anti-Lunduke” hit piece without first reaching out for comment — which resulted in their most popular article (at least on social media) in quite some time.

With that in mind, it seemed reasonable that they’d want to repeat that success with another “anti-Lunduke” story.

This time they were doing the responsible thing. They reached out to the subject of the hit-piece article with questions. I like encouraging Tech Journalists when they do actual journalism, so I answered each and every query with easy-to-quote responses.

But, it would appear that the answers they received were not conducive to creating the hit-piece they were hoping for — my guess is they realized their questions made them look like the villain in the story. The villain they, clearly, hoped to portray me as.

They opted to not publish the piece.

So I’m publishing their hit-piece for them.

Below is every question — and every answer (with no edits) — which I was asked, on September 19th, by a Tech Journalist by the name of Christine Hall, writing for FossForce.

Fair warning: This is very, very politically charged.

Enjoy.


September 19th

Hall:

The last time I mentioned you in an article, you castigated me for not reaching out to you beforehand. Well, I’m reaching out now. We’ll see what comes of this.

You do recognize that the vast majority of organizations using the term antifa as a descriptor are not in the least bit terrorist and pose no threat to society -- and indeed, the only threats they might pose to fascist groups are not physical or life-harming?

Lunduke:

Hello Christine! Nice to hear from you!

Many, if not most, of those proclaiming support for Antifa (within Open Source) have also made statements encouraging or supporting violence and discrimination.

Regardless of that fact -- which I have documented extensively in Lunduke Journal coverage -- when violent acts are committed (such as murder, riots, and lynchings) in the name of “Antifa”, to turn around and immediately declare yourself to be “Antifa” is a clear declaration of support of that violence.

Hall:

And why did you feel it necessary to call out Danielle Foré’s [the founder of the elementary OS Linux Distribution] trans status in such an ugly manner?

Lunduke:

There is a noteworthy overlap between “Trans activism” and support for political violence -- including in the recent murder of Charlie Kirk (the murderer’s boyfriend was “Trans”).

In the case of Daniel Fore, he, a leader of an Open Source project, regularly calls for discrimination (and violence) against people he disagrees with -- often in conjunction with his self-declaration as “Trans”.

Thus, his declaration of being “Trans” becomes a part of the overall story.

It is worth noting here that The Lunduke Journal has never -- and would never -- call for discrimination or violence against someone because of how they identify or who they may (or may not) vote for.

This is in stark contrast those, such as Mr. Fore, who consider themselves “Trans” or “Antifa” -- who actively advocate for both discrimination and violence.

Hall:

Mentioning a person’s trans status in ways that are pertinent to your argument necessates rudeness such as calling her a “dude who likes to wear dresses”?

Lunduke:

Dan Fore is, in fact, a dude who likes to wear dresses.

The only reason to view that as a negative is if you view dudes wearing dresses as a negative.

Hall:

I’ll quote you on that, which I’m pretty sure won’t bother you in the least.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Quote anything I say here. In fact, I suggest quoting absolutely everything I’ve written to you here, today.

Hall:

You also understand, don’t you, that voicing disagreement with an assessment made by POTUS is not only legal but a healthy part of the national dialog.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Did I say somewhere that it was illegal to disagree with a politician? It seems unlikely that I have ever said that.

Hall:

Also, how would you reply to this:

There have been very few murders linked to individuals associated with Antifa, some incidents of rioting attributed to Antifa supporters, and no credible evidence of lynchings conducted in the name of Antifa. Compared to far-right groups, violence attributed to Antifa is much less frequent and lethal, with only one suspected kill—Aaron Danielson in Portland, by an anti-fascist activist—officially confirmed in recent U.S. history.

Lunduke:

Murder is bad. I am opposed to all murder.

In the context of these discussions, bearing in mind the Kirk murder is important (as many statements were made in response to it). The murderer of Kirk appears to have been pro-Trans and pro-Antifa (based on all available information).

Hall:

Is there any evidence that the suspect was part of an antifa group? I haven’t seen any.

Lunduke:

I have seen some reporting to this effect (including statements from family and messages he wrote).

But, far more important to this story, is the response to the murder among Antifa supporters (including those within Open Source). A large portion of Antifa supporters have celebrated the murder as justified because it killed someone they considered to be a “fascist”.

Hall:

Also, no group should be held responsible for what some deranged person who identifies with the group has done.

Lunduke:

I agree that a broader group should not be held responsible for the actions of a small number of individuals.

However, and this is critically important, it is entirely appropriate to hold people responsible for their own statements and actions.

With that in mind: The overall messaging of Antifa (and Antifa supporters) tends heavily towards violence. Punching, killing, molotov cocktails, etc. are all common messaging used by Antifa (including by those I quote within the Open Source world -- many of whom have advocated violence against myself).

Advocating for violence, then celebrating when violence is committed, are not good things.

Yet we see a great deal of that among Open Source supporters of Antifa.

Read full Article
October 13, 2025
Sale ends in a few hours, Lifetime Subs set up.

Holy moly, you guys are amazing.

A few days ago I published a “50% off” sale for Lunduke Journal subscriptions… and all of you showed up. In a big way.

To everyone who grabbed a Lifetime Subscription over the last few days: All of you are set to full Lifetime access. You should have a confirmation email in your inbox. If not, email me and I’ll make sure you’re setup properly.

That “50% off” sale ends tonight at midnight. So you have a few hours to snag a discounted subscription, if you haven’t already.

A huge thank you to everyone who supports this work. Couldn’t do it without you.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
October 12, 2025
50% Off Lunduke Journal Extended Through Monday (Oct 13th)

Just a quick heads up:

The “50% off every kind of Subscription to The Lunduke Journal” sale has been extended through Monday (October 13th).

So. You know. Grab one at 50% off between now and end of the day on Monday.

To all of you amazing nerds who have picked up a Lifetime Subscription already this weekend: You are awesome. You’ll be receiving a confirmation email, with all of the Lifetime Subscription details, by tomorrow (if you haven’t already).

Oh, and remember how we hit 11 Million views last month? Yeah. We’re well on our way to blowing past those numbers in October.

Wild.

See you all on Monday!

-Lunduke

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals