Linux adoption continues to grow!! Now at 6%

[audiojunkie]

It is important that developers understand how fast Linux adoption is growing. Linux adoption on the desktop is now at 6% of the total. The other interesting thing is the exponential speed of this growth. Check out this article or more information:

"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%."

https://www.zdnet.com/article/think-lin ... otherwise/

If you aren't already providing True Cross-platform support for your products, maybe it is time to start considering providing your products in Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

[dkode80]

What does cross platform mean for VST/AU? Is it simply ensuring that you build a VST3 version specifically compiled for Linux?

[audiojunkie]

What does cross platform mean for VST/AU? Is it simply ensuring that you build a VST3 version specifically compiled for Linux?

"Cross Platform" means that a software application is supported in the major OS versions: Windows, Apple, and Linux --all three major OS families.

Specifically, it means that a version of the VST3 or CLAP has been compiled for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. AU is only for Apple products.

[dkode80]

Ah ok, My plugin is cross platform then that I recently built as I setup builds for all three. I wasnt sure if there was something additional needed for linux as I havent tested out that binary as of yet.

Thanks for the info!

[audiojunkie]

You’re welcome! What plugin are you building? Thank you for supporting Linux!

[audiothing]

While Linux is not easy to support, with all the different distros and configurations, porting to Linux was one of the best choices we ever made. It helped a lot to make our own framework better, and later the iOS port was much easier because of that.

Also, the Linux users are some of the best testers you can find. They really care, they give great feedback, and they are very patient. In the end, it just feels good to have our plugins on Linux.

[Freaqpeak]

It actually seems Linux Desktop has found momentum 2025.

Something is really happening in the Desktop OS market since last year.
Linux on Desktop have always had growth, but VERY VERY slow, year-to-year.
Since Linux Desktop is now surpassing 5% of the general market, it's starting to be something that more companies need to support. Also, Linux has almost 80% of the server and IoT market already.

Some thoughts about why momentum in 2025..?

- A lot known people ("influencers"), not focused on computers, has moved to Linux and are showing that it works great.
- Windows 11 is not great. Windows 10 is being ended by October this year.
- The ancient Xorg-server is being replaced by Wayland. The major Linux Desktop Environments are already mature.
- Most games run in Linux. No need for complex configurations of emulators and such.
- Coverage of Windows apps that now runs in native Linux is large.
- There almost always good alternatives apps of those that aren't running native Linux.
- Webb-versions of applications like Teams/Office etc is a thing. These are not really OS dependent. Works perfectly in Chrome-based browsers (AWP-mode - they act like an app).
- Political situation with USA...


Linux is not easy to support due to so many different user configuration possibilities, BUT, supporting Debian and/or Red Hat (Ubuntu and Fedora) is enough for most companies. Individuals running "obscure" distributions will have to help themselfs. And they do. Supporting just Ubuntu for example often enough. Users and admins will figure out how to run software in their own distributions if needed.

[mabian]

Sadly, this is also happening while Wine devs are neglecting totally good compatibility, only focusing on Wayland and games, and so latest Wine version are mainly garbage regarding the ability to run the latest Windows plugins (direct2d bad support, breaking/"evolving" a lot of stuff that worked much better before etc.).

But I'm still happy to see Linux taking ground - and hope CLAP follows soon, but that's even harder.

[audiojunkie]

Sadly, this is also happening while Wine devs are neglecting totally good compatibility, only focusing on Wayland and games, and so latest Wine version are mainly garbage regarding the ability to run the latest Windows plugins (direct2d bad support, breaking/"evolving" a lot of stuff that worked much better before etc.).

But I'm still happy to see Linux taking ground - and hope CLAP follows soon, but that's even harder.

WINE is getting better and better. Some don’t like or agree with the decisions, but it really is getting better. WINE is forward thinking and doing what they feels best for their project. The 10.x series runs plugins much better than the 9.x series. However, there is a regression involving WINE that is slowing progress down and affecting plugin bridges. It takes time, but it is being worked on actively (you can follow it on GitHub). When these problems are fixed, the plugin bridges will probably be good for a long time—changes like Wayland support are huge and don’t happen frequently. Be patient—things will soon be better.

[mabian]

Sadly, this is also happening while Wine devs are neglecting totally good compatibility, only focusing on Wayland and games, and so latest Wine version are mainly garbage regarding the ability to run the latest Windows plugins (direct2d bad support, breaking/"evolving" a lot of stuff that worked much better before etc.).

But I'm still happy to see Linux taking ground - and hope CLAP follows soon, but that's even harder.

WINE is getting better and better. Some don’t like or agree with the decisions, but it really is getting better. WINE is forward thinking and doing what they feels best for their project. The 10.x series runs plugins much better than the 9.x series. However, there is a regression involving WINE that is slowing progress down and affecting plugin bridges. It takes time, but it is being worked on actively (you can follow it on GitHub). When these problems are fixed, the plugin bridges will probably be good for a long time—changes like Wayland support are huge and don’t happen frequently. Be patient—things will soon be better.

I hope so... but... for the moment...

- Yabridge broke with Wine 9.21, I know it's not Wine's fault but for the moment being I found it's much better not only at 9.21, but even better at 9.00 in my book.
- Everytime I try login using a Wayland flavour of a Window ManagerI still see a lot of incomplete stuff and gfx artifacts. Maybe we are just in the middle of a big transition, but it's not cool trying to be productive in such a situation. So I stick with older versions that at least run more reliably.

- Mario

[audiojunkie]

Sadly, this is also happening while Wine devs are neglecting totally good compatibility, only focusing on Wayland and games, and so latest Wine version are mainly garbage regarding the ability to run the latest Windows plugins (direct2d bad support, breaking/"evolving" a lot of stuff that worked much better before etc.).

But I'm still happy to see Linux taking ground - and hope CLAP follows soon, but that's even harder.

WINE is getting better and better. Some don’t like or agree with the decisions, but it really is getting better. WINE is forward thinking and doing what they feels best for their project. The 10.x series runs plugins much better than the 9.x series. However, there is a regression involving WINE that is slowing progress down and affecting plugin bridges. It takes time, but it is being worked on actively (you can follow it on GitHub). When these problems are fixed, the plugin bridges will probably be good for a long time—changes like Wayland support are huge and don’t happen frequently. Be patient—things will soon be better.

I hope so... but... for the moment...

- Yabridge broke with Wine 9.21, I know it's not Wine's fault but for the moment being I found it's much better not only at 9.21, but even better at 9.00 in my book.
- Everytime I try login using a Wayland flavour of a Window ManagerI still see a lot of incomplete stuff and gfx artifacts. Maybe we are just in the middle of a big transition, but it's not cool trying to be productive in such a situation. So I stick with older versions that at least run more reliably.

- Mario

There are lots of other options while waiting. For example, WINEASIO works and and allows you to pass your audio from a Windows application, through jack, and into your DAW, through your DAW's inputs set to JACK. It doesn't suffer from the WINE Wayland changes, and should simply work. Use a windows host in WINE to load your windows plugins into (a windows version of your DAW is a good option), and qpwgraph to make the JACK connections. Never worry about yabridge and LinVST3 again (or at least until it is fixed).

Another option which is really nice for this is Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork through WINE. That's what I have. Load Patchwork into WINE, and then use WINEASIO with JACK connections like above.

[dkode80]

You’re welcome! What plugin are you building? Thank you for supporting Linux!

It's a simple distortion plugin. I built it to learn juce a tad more. Gonna improve it but I automated the builds on GitHub for Linux, macos and Windows. If you find it useful please give it a star if you like it!

https://github.com/fullfxmedia/setekh

The marketing site i setup is here: https://fullfxmedia.com/plugins/

[audiojunkie]

You’re welcome! What plugin are you building? Thank you for supporting Linux!

It's a simple distortion plugin. I built it to learn juce a tad more. Gonna improve it but I automated the builds on GitHub for Linux, macos and Windows. If you find it useful please give it a star if you like it!

https://github.com/fullfxmedia/setekh

The marketing site i setup is here: https://fullfxmedia.com/plugins/

Nice! I track all the projects through my stars list, so I was happy to give it a star!

[dkode80]

Nice! I track all the projects through my stars list, so I was happy to give it a star!

Thank you!!

[pekbro]

So that makes 6% after 30 yrs ime.