Linux is everywhere

Everyone gets excited when the Linux market share goes up. The interwebs were abuzz that desktop Linux hit 4% (see News, page 6), never mind the 3% for ChromeOS (which is Linux) and whatever makes up the 6% of “unknown” operating systems – Haiku, is that you? It was more or less this time last year when the same excitement was around Linux hitting 3%, up from 2% the year before. What is going on? The truth is – and we have talked about this before – Linux is everywhere now, to the point where even Microsoft, 25 years on from its Halloween Documents leak, can’t escape and has to embrace Linux and open source. That’s why we’re looking at how Linux is now embedded inside Windows, how Microsoft has created its own Linux distro, and Linux is the most widely deployed OS on Azure, along with the many open source projects Microsoft contributes to, including the Linux kernel itself. It’s a staggering turnaround from a corporation whose past CEO proclaimed Linux to be a cancer.

But that’s just further testament to the flexibility and ingenuity of the kernel and the open source community around it. This issue we’re covering all areas, from Steam Deck gaming and running Windows tools through Wine, serving up ebooks on a shared network system, reliving classic retro computer systems like the MK14 to streaming video for desktop and gaming around your network and getting the most from AI systems. Along with the usual reviews and a time trackers Roundup, there’s loads to enjoy with open source.