Linux @lemmy.ml Possibly linux @lemmy.zip 4w ago

Random thought: Linux has a higher market share than Firefox if stat counter is to be believed

Wild isn't it

Edit:

Ok I misread the data but I am leaving this post. I compared Linux desktop share to Firefox all platform share

35 comments

Statcounter does not say that. This post is straight up misinformation.

Firefox (all platforms): 2.74%

Linux (all platforms): 1.61%

Firefox (desktop): 6.64%

Linux (desktop): 4.45%

Firefox has 50-70% more users than Linux.
- Is OP adding the Android share to Linux? That would certainly do it.
  
  Android (all platforms): 45.19%
  
  Only makes sense if you know their definition of 'Linux' though.
  
  True, that could be it.
  
  Although then the "Wild isn't it" statement really isn't wild at all - Android is by far and away the most popular OS, not far off double Windows. Of course if you lump that in with Linux, Linux would be more popular than Firefox.
- Thank Gods! Anyone using Linux should be running some version of Firefox.
- What? Linux on server should definitely be higher.
  
  I don't believe anybody mentioned Linux on servers.
  
  I only mentioned "all platforms" (that statcounter checks anyway), and desktop.
- 4.45 > 2.74
  
  You're comparing apples and oranges...
  
  Firefox (all platforms): 2.74%
  
  Linux (all platforms): 1.61%
  
  Firefox (desktop): 6.64%
  
  Linux (desktop): 4.45%
  
  You've chosen to compare Firefox's share from all platforms to Linux's share only on desktop. I don't know whether this was deliberate misinformation-pushing, or an innocent brainfart/inability to parse data, but that's not how data is compared.
  
  Firefox has 50-70% more users than Linux, depending on the platform you use for comparison.
  
  No matter how you cut it, Firefox is more popular. It's more popular across all platforms as a whole, and it's also more popular on desktop.
  
  And 4.45% of a far smaller number is not greater than 2.74% of a much much larger number.
Right now statcounter shows:

Firefox: 2.74% Linux: 1.61%
- And even if you look at the desktop only, Firefox marketshare still will be higher:
  
  Firefox: 6.64% Linux: 4.45%
Browsers are mostly identified by user-agent, or not? If so it isn't surprising because people like to fake that. In the least to shut down such silly messages like "please use chrome/edge"
- The number of people that do this is not going to even remotely shift the usage share percentage.
- OS is also identified by user agent, so it's no less vulnerable to fake agents. In any case, I'd wager the vast majority of users even on Linux use unaltered agents, though this isn't something that can be backed up one way or another because there are no numbers for fake agents.
- If more than 0.1% of people do that I'd be flabbergasted
I'd believe it. I've had hundreds of Linux servers that don't have any desktop Gui at all deployed on them.

Linux desktop users make up an absolutely tiny fraction of Linux installs.
- I don't think that's what 'market share' is trying to represent, but without any context - yeah. You can lump in android phones and set-top boxes and signage and industrial controllers while you're at it.
In which country? For me the global stats and my country's (NL) stats show otherwise.
- From a very quick glance at Statcounter, I can only see India where OP's statement is true, with Linux having an extremely high desktop market share there relative to other markets.
I never trust stat counters of any kind with linux. I often see stuff like that plastered on my whitelist firewall, like bumper insects on a high speed summer drive through Florida. There is usually some other stat of leet users. That's Linux too. Then there are those times when I change my browser agent just for fun.
On a random note, I once talked about Firefox with a friend, and he texted me a few weeks later about trying it. More successful than my Linux spreading, although part of it was he used a Surface and having gone through the pain on my Surface Go myself, I wasn’t sure I could impart that suffering to someone else.
- Firefox is suffering if one use M365 online daily...
  
  Only Google workspace great on Firefox ootb..
I know the Linux community doesn't want to know, but Firefox is not as belowed as you might think.
- But the majority of distros provides it as a default choice. FF for Linux is like Edge for Windows.
  
  So just to install chrome?
  
  Edit: I got down voted for saying people use edge for downloading Chrome. A lot of edge lovers here, who would have known?
- I know, because most people are lazy, ignorant and stupid. :)
  
  Or they just have differente priorities and preferences, you know. THe same reason they use Linux instead of $SOMEOTHEROS.

35 comments