Tux Machines

GNU/Linux is Definitely Growing, Microsoft is Still Trying to Sabotage It

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 04, 2024,

updated Sep 04, 2024

It's currently attacking Linux developers again, notably Theodore Ts'o

THE USAGE levels of GNU/Linux are growing. SJVN has published "Valve Steam Deck as a stepping stone to the Linux desktop" because technically those devices are GNU/Linux with KDE. Looking at some statCounter figures for September, or even Steam Survey, there are more people using GNU/Linux than ever before and MakeUseOf's GNU/Linux coverage is back under "How-To Geek" (same authors, different site).

Here in this site we've seen a significant growth in traffic - to the point where this week the new site serves about 600,000 requests per day. We can only assume or simply guess that it means more people are pursuing information about "Linux".

Given what Microsoft is doing right now, we ought to get ready for or expect many more people (and businesses, governments etc.) to move to GNU/Linux while Microsoft vandalises migrations via 'secure' boot. There really ought to be legal action over this, but lawsuits aren't cheap. See the new article "Brace for glitches and GRUB grumbles as Ubuntu 24.04.1 lands" (by Liam Proven). We have the Trojan horse from Microsofters to thank for it. █

A significant change catching some upgraders off guard is that recent Ubuntu versions don't add other OSes to their GRUB menu. This is by design: a module called os-prober is disabled in recent releases. You can just turn it back on, rerun sudo update-grub – and your other OSes, including Windows, should reappear on the next reboot. We also suggest turning off Secure Boot in your firmware settings, which might also help if you've been nobbled by Microsoft's recent screw-up.