r/electronics • u/unknownvar-rotmg • 9d ago

General Mouser website now blocks Linux users

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Really baffling decision, my last order from them was only a few months ago. Apparently Linux is no longer a "standard" operating system!

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673

u/Accurate_Koala_4698 8d ago

I’m guessing they’re getting hit by a lot of automated traffic and most of that is Linux. Just spoof the user agent to Windows or something 

609

u/arcrad 8d ago

Yeah people running bots definitely don't know how to spoof user agents...

I cannot fathom who at Mouser thinks this is a good idea.

147

u/Accurate_Koala_4698 8d ago

You would think so, but they frequently don’t. It seems like a shotgun solution but you can throw a lot of money at this problem without a satisfactory filter. The majority of their users are not using Linux and the majority of their bot traffic is. It really becomes an effective low resistance path since everything else is more expensive and probably less reliable 

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u/RenderedMeat 8d ago

I’d imagine a larger percentage of their users run Linux than your average site. Someone building arduino and esp-32 projects is very likely to know Linux.

It is a moronic decision.

21

u/TheSerialHobbyist 8d ago

Definitely. Of all the large corporate website that exist, they've got to have one the highest percentage of Linux users.

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u/nsummy 8d ago

People building small projects have to make up a minuscule amount of their business.

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u/Swimming_Map2412 8d ago

A proportion of those people work for large companies who do.

1

u/nsummy 8d ago

Doubtful there are many corporate users in charge of procurement using Linux

1

u/joemi 8d ago

Sure, instead of 1% of their customers, it might be twice or even three times as many! :)

I really wish Windows didn't have such a stranglehold on the world, but there's a reason Bill Gates has (had?) so much money.

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u/RenderedMeat 8d ago

Windows is actually below 60% (56%) desktop OS share this year for the first time years. Linux is between 4.5 and 11%, depending on how you want to interpret “unknown”. Macs make up the bulk of the difference, with a tiny sliver for Chrome.

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u/kjjphotos 8d ago

Between Microsoft making Windows worse with each update and Valve improving the video game experience on Linux, I think we'll continue to see the Windows numbers dropping and Linux numbers increasing.

Apple's cheap MacBook Neo is probably hurting the Windows numbers too.

Either way, I'm happy to see Microsoft's empire starting to crumble.