For the Linux gamers on Steem, I got some good news for today.
Valve dropped a bit of a bombshell earlier this month when Linux jumped from 1.44% to 1.96% marketshare in the Steam hardware survey. This makes it the second highest marketshare to 2.02% back in February 2013, when Steam for Linux debuted. Much of the increase is likely attributable to the Steam Deck discounts during the Steam Summer Sale.
Meanwhile, the Linux desktop clocked in at a 3.13% desktop OS marketshare on StatCounter, beating its previous all-time high of 3.07% the month prior.
The Steam Deck's continued success shows if you release hardware with a well-supported Linux OS, users will stay on that ecosystem. The vast majority of consumers just go with what comes pre-installed and are not keen on DIY installing an OS. Whoever dominates the OEMs also dominates the desktop OS market, i.e. Windows.
It'd be interesting if Valve decides to do a Steam Machine reboot once the desktop version of SteamOS is finally ready. I'd bet things will play out a lot differently this time around.