September 1991 was the first stable release of Linux. Since then Linux has absolutely dominated the server space and mobile market as android is based on it. Linux has been around for sometime yet the overall market share for desktop is only 4.04% and OS share is sitting at just 1%. What is the reason linux desktops haven’t catch up? This is battle tested technology written over the last 33 years and designed to run on everything from a small vacuum cleaner to a giant distributed network of computers spread across the world, heck even the NASA uses linux internally for their systems and it has even reached Mars ! It’s almost hysterical to think that such a versatile, powerful, and completely free operating system is falling behind.

I’ve been using linux as my primary desktop environment for a little more than 6 years and here are the reasons that make it less popular choice for a desktop environment for a casual everyday joe.

You have to install an OS?

Installing an operating system is an alienated concept for most of the world. Just buy “Windows” or “Apple” laptop which come with operating system pre-installed. This isn’t the case with Linux. While there are some manufacturers that ship completely linux baked laptops majority of the users will have to flash a usb drive and install it themselves. The process is quite simple but it’s already behind your average Joe’s technical ability.

Open source nature

The thing that makes you strong also makes you weak. Lot of the linux marketing and popularity depend on the big tech donations and adoption. There is no centralized controlling entity or a decision making body that could be held accountable for. Most engineering decisions are made by Linus Torvalds himself and a core team without any restraints. And hence most enterprises shy away from this no-commitment model.

Lack of driver support

Linux is written with an intention to run anywhere. It is difficult to cover all possible hardware combinations. Let’s say Lenevo is building a new laptop, they will go above and beyond to make sure all display, audio, bluetooth, wifi, graphics and many other peripherals work properly with the OS they are shipping(Windows). This simply isn’t the case for Linux. The linux devs don’t know what specific hardware combination you are going to run so it makes difficult to write software for that because often the devs have to buy the devices with their own money. The driver problem is probably the biggest moat to solve if linux is every going to capture the market. The driver support problem is not only valid if you have niche hardware devices but even some common ones like NVIDIA GPUs.

Limited Enterprise Push

The reasons above contribute to a broader reluctance among enterprises to adopt Linux desktops. While Linux dominates the server space due to its stability and performance, many companies prefer Windows or macOS for their desktop environments. This preference often stems from established workflows, software availability, and the familiarity of their teams with these operating systems.

Desktop Environment philosophies

The Linux Desktop Environment has been very stagnant with Gnome and KDE being the only major competitors. There are many other contenders but they are just a refactored version of the former two. Gnome is too minimal and basic but the developers don’t care about user feedback and requests KDE on the other hand has thousands of knobs and switches which has made it little complicated for the new users. Either way you are going to spend a lot of time configuring any linux DE because you are not going to get what you like out of the box. This is true for any other OS but more so for linux.

Software Support

While Linux offers robust tools for developers, many popular consumer applications, such as the Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office, are not natively available. Although alternatives exist, they may not meet the needs of all users. This lack of mainstream software can deter casual users who rely on specific applications for their daily tasks.

General features or lack of it.

The things I’m about to say might sound insane for everyday mac or windows users but they are true and quite embarrassing to be honest. Linux as a desktop has been into development for almost 3 decades, yet it still misses out on some of the most commonly used features.

  • Touchpad tracking
  • Fractional scaling
  • Weird display protocols
  • Marketing works in sub-communities
  • No native support for popular workplace apps like office or adobe suite
  • No sane defaults



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