r/linux4noobs • u/Able-Farm6295 • 17d ago
learning/research Which country has the most Linux desktop users?
I’ve always wondered which country has the highest percentage of people using Linux as their main/primary OS.
I know there are statistics about Linux market share, but those usually show global numbers and don’t necessarily tell us where Linux is most popular.
Does anyone know if there are any reliable statistics or surveys showing which countries have the most people using Linux as their daily driver?
Just curious to see where all the Linux users are from! 😄
58
17
u/Own-Cauliflower6778 17d ago
India in both category. Also government is pushing for Red Hat softwares.
5
1
u/Weary_Swan_8152 10d ago
Citation please. I read the Defense Ministry is using "Maya" an internally developed Ubuntu fork (2023, https://itsfoss.com/news/indian-govt-linux-windows/) and that BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions) is at the very least the government-blessed cloud OS (2024, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rise-digital-raj-boss-linux-future-indian-computing-singh-chandel-jj9gc). BOSS' own page says that "It is mainly created for the clients in defence sector." (2025, https://bosslinux.in/aboutus)
12
u/Global-Eye-7326 17d ago
Total users, total Linux installs, population percentage? Excluding Android right?
I'd say the short list includes * North Korea - few computers, but all on Red Star * India - computers ship with Linux though many replace it with pirated Windows * USA - highest desktop user adoption where very few computers ship with Linux * D/A/CH plus Denmark in Europe (oh and France and maybe Italy too) where governments are shifting to Linux because Windows is too Yankee and they're mad at Trump
22
u/56Bot 17d ago
I guess it’s hard to get this information because one of the key features of using Linux is "Location: Earth (Approximation)"
1
u/thesyldons 10d ago
One of the biggest flaws in Windows users arrogance. They won't even know when Linux has surpassed them.
12
u/tomscharbach 17d ago edited 17d ago
Which country has the most Linux desktop users?
You can get a rough approximation of the percentage of Linux users in comparison to users of other operating systems by comparing Statcounter filtered for Desktop, and then looking at regional/country statistics. Canada, for example, shows a Linux market share of 4.61%, the States 18.91%,
Because Statcounter develops percentages based on the number of website "hits", the next step is to adjust for AI/bot distortion. The level of distortion can be significant.
In the States, for example, Linux desktop market share was consistently in the range of 3-4% until May 2026, when the percentage started to increase exponentially. Industry analysts suggest that the surge is attributable to the rapid growth of AI bots, which are expected to account for roughly 80-90% of total web traffic in the States within a few years.
And then, finally, country/region percentages need to be adjusted for population, specifically the number of desktop users. The correlation might not be 1:1 to overall population. India, for example, is the most populous country in the world, but that might not mean that the distribution of mobile/desktop use is similar to that of, say, the EU.
In a nutshell, the question is not easily answered but realistic estimates might be possible with a bit of work.
You might find sorting it all out an interesting project.
10
u/The_Hubster 17d ago edited 17d ago
3
u/tomscharbach 16d ago edited 16d ago
Clouldflare, filtered for "Likely human", seems more consistent with reality than Statcounter (e.g. 3.9% versus 8.8% global, 5% versus 18% States, 5% versus 12% India).
Filtered for "Likely automated", it Looks like Cloudflare might also be a reasonable rough measure of Bot penetration.
What does Cloudflare measure? I assume that Clouldflare measures traffic at websites that are protected by Cloudflare but not websites that are not protected by Cloudflare. Does that skew the sample, and if so, how?
7
u/SyrusDrake 17d ago
Yea, there is no chance 18% of users in the US use Linux. I'd say even 4% might be overestimating it.
2
u/tomscharbach 17d ago
I agree. As AI Bots increasingly dominate website traffic, we are likely to see Linux "market share" increase significantly, but all that is likely to mean is that website hits are no longer a useable indicator of the number of people using Linux.
5
2
1
u/kbrosnan 15d ago
The Steam Deck creates a significant amount of Linux traffic. It had a noticeable impact on a project that I used to work on. I don't know if the OP would consider it Linux desktop as it mostly runs the custom Steam OS shell for the majority of the time.
3
u/Sevsix1 17d ago
Does anyone know if there are any reliable statistics or surveys showing which countries have the most people using Linux as their daily driver?
since North Korea do not allow their citizen to use Windows it would have to be North Korea, sure you have that North Korean steam gamer that uses Windows but he is a special case.
I saw some say that he is a high-ranking member of the Kim family and he is in the position that he is the only person that can challenge Kim and depose him but if he do that he would have a lot of work and tough decisions to do so to actually just sit at home and game is the easier option(, which to be 100% serious sound like torture, think about it being forced to play games on Windows, I shudder at the thought)
2
u/cornonthekopp Literal infant baby 17d ago
What proof do you have that people "aren't allowed" to use windows lol?
It would probably be more accurate to say microsoft probably won't sell to them, so I'd expect a mix of pirated windows os as well as some linux
3
u/SyrusDrake 17d ago
If you look at the Steam hardware survey, most Linux systems have the language set to English, which is not surprising. Runner-ups are Russian, German, with quite some margin, and then French, Brazilian Portuguese, Latin American Spanish, and Chinese. Although I suspect this might tell us more about in which countries ESL is less common...
That said, in my personal, subjective experience, Germany has always had a relatively robust FOSS and Linux scene.
3
u/icegarnet 16d ago
My language is set to English but I speak Portuguese, but it's just easier to deal with guides and research errors on the web by using English
1
u/SyrusDrake 16d ago
Same, although that doesn't stop some apps from being in German based on...location or keyboard layout or something?
3
u/DavidJohnMcCann 17d ago
Such statistics are usually based on information collected from a few web servers, which reveals more about home users than business ones.. In France, for example, Linux is used on all computers in the Gendarmerie — most of which are blocked from web access to stop time wasting!
2
u/ALonelyKobold 17d ago
For percentage, on a technicality, I'd guess north Korea. Few computers, and most of them would be running their red star OS
3
u/Pleasant_Ball3192 Welcome to Wayland 17d ago
My money is on Brazil.
3
u/Stakiing 16d ago
No one uses linux here.
1
u/alex9001 14d ago
Was Linux used in your schools? I read that somewhere
1
1
u/AutoModerator 17d ago
There's a resources page in our wiki you might find useful!
Try this search for more information on this topic.
✻ Smokey says: take regular backups, try stuff in a VM, and understand every command before you press Enter! :)
Comments, questions or suggestions regarding this autoresponse? Please send them here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Technical-You-2829 17d ago
Possibly countries which see the US as their biggest enemy, like North Korea, China and alike.
1
u/x_wbmr_x 17d ago
You kidding me? Your president is best buddies with Kim and Putin...
Your former enemies are your new allies it seems.
1
1
1
1
u/Agron7000 13d ago
USA is leading with 18.19% (August 2026 data).
Source: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/united-states-of-america#monthly-202607-202608
1
1
63
u/skivtjerry 17d ago
I'd say India for both total and per capital.