this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 141 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Can we talk about the definition of a "surge", please!

[–] [email protected] 79 points 11 months ago (7 children)

What percentage increase do you feel is required for surge to be a reasonable definition. A 35% increase feels surge-y me.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (3 children)

The council planted a new tree on my road, trees surged in population from 1 to 2 yesterday

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

100% surge is legit

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That's why we're talking about relative percentages.

In your example we would need to know how many trees existed on your road/city before. If there were less than 3 or 4 trees in your city before this, saying there was a surge is likely fine.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I gave you that information, I said "from 1 to 2" and added context of "a tree" (singular)

My terribly made point is that although technically correct when talking about relative increase it's dumb as fuck to say trees "surged in population" after adding just one more on one street. It's a drop on the ocean.

I feel like the term surge respects the final total relative to what its maximum could be as well as the relative increase. But obviously language is regional and up for interpretation

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I'm super confused by your point.

In this case we're looking at Steam.

I have no clue how many people submit to the steam survey, but I'll assume it's representative.

A quick google suggests steam has about 120 million active users.

Linux went from about 1.4% to 1.9%.

Rough math says Linux went from 1.7 million to about 2.3 million.

Or an increase of 600 000.

That a lot, both in relative terms and in real terms.

Here's a counter example for you.

You own stock in banana company. Over one day the price increases 2x. All the news agency's are talking about how banana surged in price today. Will you then suggest that banana didn't surge in price because it only makes up 1% of the overall stock market?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

A delicious canned energy drink from the 90s.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Click bait media

[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I'm guessing this is because of more sales of the Steam Deck, haven't got myself one yet but I'd love to as everyone that has gotten ones has said it's worth the money as well as is a great way to get through your games on the go.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago (3 children)

You may be right in that people are seeing how viable Linux is for gaming due to the success of the Steam Deck.

I'm not sure if steam deck is counted under Arch, but it's definitely not Ubuntu, Mint, or Manjaro. It looks like the increase in Linux desktop is traditional desktop gaming.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

SteamOS is 42.99% of the Linux share on there, with the lion's share increase of 0.68%. This 'surge' is pretty much just from the Steam Deck.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I’m not sure if steam deck is counted under Arch

It must be, because there's no way vanilla Arch is the most-used Linux distro, even among gamers.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

That, but also the splash buff of Proton making a lot of games work for Linux outside of Steam Decks has probably helped too.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Add the article says, the surge is entirely thanks to the Deck. There was a 35% surge in overall use but 43% of that use is the Deck so PC/laptop use has actually dropped.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I'd say some of that drop was punters like me who were already gaming on Linux and have just moved over to the deck now.

I have a dock for mine and it's really the only thing I use for gaming now as my laptop is very old.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (5 children)

It’s been pretty good. So long as you stick to verified and playable games your experience is going to be pretty solid.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

That and Emudeck.

The most seamless retro gaming setup I've used yet.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (5 children)

id like to think this is because I alone decided to install opensuse (its been an awful experience)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Do you mean Linux in general or just Open suse? Never used it other than booting it up and trying out the live environment

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Feel the pain 😂.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's an excellent distro. My first, after a poor Ubuntu experience years prior. I'll always have good things to say.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

LMDE is Mint without the Ubuntu. Don't mind me, just spreading the good word.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

I just removed Windows from my desktop and went straight Linux after seeing how well things ran on my Deck.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

bill’s days are numbered

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I mean, he's not exactly a spring chicken anymore.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (8 children)

My guess is that most gaming Linux users have a dual boot setup and play games on Windows.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

If not for games like Destiny, I wouldn’t even need that. Literally everything else I play runs great on Linux now

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I used to keep a windows drive to run steam. But it honestly sees very little use nowadays.

Mostly I boot it every few months to see what shenanigans Microsoft has pulled with windows. Other than that, it's just sitting there. Everything I play runs in Linux.

I run Tumbleweed btw.

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