Latest figures from StatCounter show that Linux achieved a 5.03% share of the Desktop Operating System market in June 2025, something that is being viewed as a pivotal moment for open-source software enthusiasts and industry observers alike.

Looking at the StatCounter chart for the United States of America for the period June 2024 to June 2025, the red line for Linux,  among the cluster of lines at the bottom of the chart, seems flat but there has been movement, both up and down with the second to greatest difference being between May and June 2025 when it was over half a percentage point:

According to Ryan Gibson, writing on WebProNews 

This surge reflects broader dissatisfaction with dominant players like Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS, driven by factors including privacy concerns, customization demands, and the rising cost of proprietary ecosystems.

Gibson goes on to report:

The milestone arrives amid a backdrop of accelerating adoption, fueled by advancements in user-friendly distributions such as Ubuntu and Fedora, which have lowered barriers for non-technical users. Industry insiders note that Linux’s growth isn’t just numerical; it’s a cultural inflection point, signaling that the once-niche OS is gaining traction in everyday computing environments, from home offices to small businesses.

It is important to note that passing 5% only applies to the United States. Looking at the Worldwide figures, Linux' share is currently only 4.1%, although it was at 4.3% in April.

Of course, as outlined in Linux At All-Time High, But Still Tiny On Desktop, Linux has much wider adoption beyond the desktop. It is the OS of servers and therefore of the cloud. It is the OS of most phones and of embedded computing, when they have an operating system. Even so its small share of the desktop OS market at a time where there is so much dissatisfaction with both Microsoft and Apple coupled with high satisfaction with open source software seems anomalous. 

It is partly explained by the problem with getting Linux onto your desktop in the first place - that is, the need to install it for yourself, something the average user isn't likely to feel confident doing. There is also the problem of choosing which distro, not to mention the need to choose the GUI. The Linux project gives us a standard kernel the core of the operating system, then the different distributions give us a bewildering range of possible installable systems. 

For a real breakthrough, Linux needs a standard UI that unifies all of the effort that goes into explaining to beginners how to do things. Extreme flexibility is an advantage of Linux and open source in general - it is also what stops it being adopted by the desktop-using non-specialist.  The Linux Foundation should just pick one. It doesn't really matter which one, although a sensible choice would be an advantage.

A single Desktop Linux is not an unreasonable goal.

• Harry Fairhead is the author of Applying C For The IoT With Linux and Raspberry Pi IoT in C with Linux Drivers and co-author of Raspberry Pi IoT In Python Using Linux Drivers.  

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Linux has much wider adoption beyond the desktop. It is the OS of servers and therefore of the cloud. It is the OS of most phones and of embedded computing, when they have an operating system.