 The year of the Linux desktop we've been hearing about the year of the Linux desktop since well since Linux existed for a very very long time and We all know that it has never happened yet and it has become such a thing that it's become a meme, right? the Windows guys likes to like to mock us About this whole year of the Linux desktop thing. Oh, yeah, it's gonna be the year the Linux desktop. It's so cute, right? Yeah, it's just you know Silly little Linux people, you know, it's never gonna happen, right? Well, there has been more of this going on since the Steam Deck was released because the Steam Deck uses arch Linux and More and more people are getting exposure to art to Linux and YouTube channels like LTT are doing specials on Linux and Linux is more popular than ever and this is absolutely true More people are using Linux than ever before and a lot of that can be contributed to steam and the steam deck People are finally seeing that Linux can game and gaming is one of the things that has held Linux back for the last three decades And then we get things like this today It was announced that Nvidia is transitioning the official open source Linux GPU kernel drivers to open source So they're open sourcing the kernel drivers similar to what AMD has done in the past. Well the distance past a long time ago This is now all of the Nvidia drivers So just keep that in mind But it's a really good start in terms of making Nvidia cards work better on Linux natively without having to do a whole bunch of work after your install in order to get them to work and of course because of the success with the Steam Deck and because of this news here, we're getting a lot of youtubers getting on their Platforms and creating things like this. I love DT. He's a fantastic guy I think he has done so many good things for the Linux community But floss is winning is a interesting title and I want to talk about why we also have things like this one here From the Linux experiment who has talked about how steam OS and steam deck will help Linux become even more popular If things go a certain way, I love the optimism I think that it is fantastic to be optimistic about Linux and I am optimistic about Linux I think that it will continue to grow in popularity and we'll see more and more things like this in video news where Software vendors make their software at least available on Linux Even if they don't go the whole open source route But I want to throw some dirt on the fire for just a little while and be my usual cynical self Just calm down on the winning thing because first of all There's this little dude in my head that's talking about tempting fate and jinxing it and I don't want that to happen Maybe I'm just a little superstitious superstitious. I can't even say the damn word without stuttering So superstitious that was the word, but maybe I'm just that Try again, you know, but I just pump the brakes just a little bit on the whole winning thing Okay, Linux hasn't won Foss hasn't won at least not in the consumer market. It's it's not there yet We have some more hope that it could possibly be more popular in the future and I hope that it is but It's hasn't won just and it's not winning either. It's just it's doing the same thing it has done for the last 30 years steady and safe growth That's the way Linux has gone for a long time and open-source software, too So I'm just cautioning him for some of the superstitious damn it man superstitious reason reasons good Lord that word is freaking hard to say because there's Dead dude in my head that just doesn't want you to say even that's tempting fate anyways, and I see some salt and throw it over my shoulder and knock on some wood and Go outside three times turn in a circle and spit If you get that reference leave a comment in the comment section below Anyways, there's this idea in the Linux community that as it becomes more popular it means that we have all of a sudden become the big dog on campus the best thing around the thing that everyone's gonna want to use and I think that While there is some of that I want to just throw some caution into not being so optimistic because We've been here before right when AMD open source their stuff. We thought it was fantastic We thought that oh my god Linux has finally made it, right? It didn't happen the The amount of users share on this like the Steam Survey or whatever it has it has been around 1% for many many years for a long time And it hasn't really gone up now with the introduction of the Steam Deck and more and more games that number will increase But it's not going to Overtake windows anytime soon and maybe we don't want to maybe it could be argued that Winning just entails being more than 1% maybe 5% will say hey, you're not we've won. I Don't know what the definition or the line is of where we can actually say hey we won But I I don't even know that if it's a it's about winning I This rhetoric just kind of bothers me just a little bit. Maybe it's that superstitious Thing inside me that doesn't want to jinx it Maybe it's that I don't want to get my hopes up and just have them crash and burn like they have Over and over again since I joined the Linux community, you know, and I'm a fairly new member of the Linux community I can't even imagine the people who have been in the Linux community since 1990 and have been pouring their effort into open-source software and Linux and they keep getting teased with all this stuff and it just never catches on in the mainstream over and over and over again like even when There is something that has gone bad with Windows like a few years ago Windows release or Microsoft released a Windows update That deleted data all over the place for all like a lot of people like it was a mainstream bug They deleted a lot of data and even that like even that was like it was in the like the nightly news And that didn't drive or spur adoption for Linux. Okay, and while I do think Linux will get more popular I'm very Cautious in saying this is the time that it's gonna happen this is the moment when Linux and open-source software is going to rush into the on the stage and be the thing that everyone wants to use and Again, maybe it's not about everyone Maybe it's about a certain number of people splitting the share between Windows and open-source soccer Windows and Linux Whatever that line is maybe it's about that instead of being the only thing in town However, you argue it. I just urge caution simply from mental health Reasons in that, you know if you take the cautious approach and don't think that this is the moment You have an opportunity to be surprised if it goes really well, but you also kind of pad yourself against Disappointment if it fails like it has so many times before So that is it for this video. I've done enough nay saying for one night. I know That this is probably going to go against a lot of people because a lot of people are very up Like it's a good thing to be optimistic and about Linux and open-source software I want to be that guy all the time like rah rah Linux and I think that there's so many good things about Linux That's the reason why I've created a YouTube channel about Linux, but I also want to just take a deep breath It's gonna be okay. Linux is going to be at 1% market share tomorrow just like it is today and If it does Slowly creep up it will slowly creep up. It's not going to go from one to 20% over the next year I don't think like if it does. I'm gonna be very surprised I'll be happy to be wrong if it's that 1.5% a year from now or two years from now I'm happy with that too because you know, I still get to use Linux. I still get to talk about Linux I still get to try to bring more and more people to Linux You know not only in my family, but also but through the YouTube channel and that's all I ever really want to do And that's really all I need to do. So I don't need to be winning. I don't need to be I don't need Linux to be the next big thing I just want it to be the way it is and Just slow growth slow and steady growth is safe growth Anyways, that is it for this video if you have comments on this whole situation You can leave those in the comment section below if you want to follow me on Twitter You can do so at the Linux Cast if you want to follow me on Macedon You can find that link in the video description along with the links to all my other social media Accounts and so on and so forth. There's also a store link down there if you're interested in buying some merch There's some fairly outdated at this point merch on a store that is any runs So you can go check that out if you're interested in a t-shirt or a cup or a mug or something head on over there If you want to support me on patreon, you can do so at patreon.com slash Linux Cast I'd like to thank my current patrons Robert Sid, Devon, Patrick, Fred, Kramer, Maglin, Jackson, Evan, Kuhl, Steve, Vase, everybody Linux Garrett, Samuel, KB, TGB, Keith, Andy, Uncle Bonehead, TriDevil, Gary, Antoine, Mitchell, D-Dog, Carpenter, Dated, Jeremy, Sean, Odin, Marnie, Ross, Eduardo, Artson, Elliott, Mislaw, Merrick, Kamp, Joshua, Lee, Peteray, Crucible, Dark Minute, Six Times, GM Thanks everybody for watching. I'll see you next time