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ZDNET's key takeaways
Linux desktop share tops 6% in Lansweeper's 15 million-system analysis.
Consumer PCs hit 6% Linux vs 1.9% on AD-managed business systems.
Europe outpaces North America in Linux adoption by industry.
In an interview, Lansweeper, an IT asset discovery and inventory company, revealed to ZDNET that, in its analysis of over 15 million identified consumer desktop operating systems, it found that Linux desktops currently account for just over 6% of PC market share.
Linux is gaining popularity as a desktop OS
This news comes after several other studies have shown the Linux desktop is right around the 6% mark. Indeed, according to the US Federal Government Website and App Analytics count, the Linux desktop market share over the last 90 days has reached 6.3%, a new high. In July, according to StatCounter, the Linux desktop also set a record high by its metrics with 5.24%.
Also: 5 Linux distros I recommend to help businesses cut costs and boost security
Lansweeper's data, according to CTO Guido Patanella, comes from its agents and scanning of 15 million consumer systems and 3.5 million corporate systems. The company defines consumer PCs as computers that are workgroup-based, standalone, or bring-your-own-device. Business computers are those managed by Windows Active Directory (AD). In other words, when you see "consumer," don't think of the laptop in your bedroom that you use for gaming but work machines that aren't hooked into AD.
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