they dont use linux forums any more...

[lazy_lain]

i think this is not seriously subject but i will talk

firstly when microsoft announced end of support win10 what happen is the big immigrate from win to gnu/linux distros and yeah, linux community it's had a big activity, one of them is the forums

when i first used mint as a default distro i signed to mint forum and yeah its had a big and activity community

and what happen its happen and i went to debian and forget about forums... (find some solution in old topics)

last days i went to debian forum, the guys in it are nice, but the forum is so, so sleepy.... (the good and bad reason is any post or any edit will be reviewed by admins, even not put dangerous command and talk about cats)

and return to mint forum. some problem its happened

and in this forum also they are one or two who is activity, and some ordinary users who type a post and vanished

i dont know why, mybe bcs of reddit and discord communities (reddit is a good place to find solutions, its good after all)

but the main reason i think, its bcs most of them dont like linux and tried in the first hard distros like arch before understanding basic commands?

or they see linux is boring with type in terminal and dont try to find any solution to their problem by themself and take a hard work to solve it (for me i see it its fun after its tired)

sorry for long topic but i said what is in my deep feels

 

[KGIII]

firstly when microsoft announced end of support win10 what happen is the big immigrate from win to gnu/linux distros and yeah, linux community it's had a big activity, one of them is the forums

Because that didn't happen. The thing is, I've paid attention to the forums (and several sub-Reddits) from well before the end of Windows 10 was announced. I check them regularly, just to keep tabs on things. I may even participate in some of them. I regularly flip through and skim a number of Linux-related sites.

If we use these support sites as a litmus test (which I think is a valid observation)...

There hasn't been a large influx of new users. It didn't happen. Yes, there was an uptick in activity. No, it was not massive.

On top of that, none of the major distros have been crowing about a lot more activity. They're not saying, "Hey, this is cool! We've had a record number of downloads this month!" That seems like something they'd do.

We had a slight uptick, but nothing record-breaking. In fact, from the stats that I do have access to, we were in a bit of a lull and we're now back to what was once average, maybe a little more than that.

I don't think this is 'secret data'. So, this is our activity in the past year:

I don't have numbers for other sites, but I do have observations.

From these observations, and applying a little logic, we can conclude that there probably was not a giant influx of new Linux users. New users would be reaching out for support, and they're not doing so.

Granted, some of them may be using AI -- but there would still be an increase in support questions if there was an increase in the number of users.

That's the past year -- for this site.

This site ranks pretty much at the top for all 'Linux' searches.

We didn't have any real increase in activity when compared to the past.

We did see a spike, even a bit of a sustained spike, but it's nothing drastic and not all that much bigger than we've seen before.

This is pretty much what a few of us were saying. We didn't expect a bunch of new users who stuck with it. To that end, we've seen all sorts of people say that they give up and are headed back to Windows.

I admit, this isn't what I'd hoped for -- but it is what I expected. While I don't want Linux to get too popular as a desktop OS (because of all the stuff that comes with that), it'd be nice to have maybe 10% of the desktop market.

 

[Vektor]

I have been using Porteus and lately PorteuX as my daily driver for about ten years.

Noticed reduced activity in the forums from newcomers concerning actual problems in the last couple of years or so.

From my end having solved all problems has reduced my participation greatly. Once I got a handle on how to do things it all fell into place and now I very seldom actually modify anything, much less ask for help.

I still try new stuff but it is all for fun and coolness instead of just trying for base functionality.

Still having fun.

Vektor

 

[bob466]

Welcome to the Forum.

You have to have a thick skin to be on Forums these days...someone asks a question..you give an answer..they either ignore it or claim it doesn't work.

Then there are those who answer with AI...which isn't helpful...not to mention trolls. Some are set in their ways never to change with the times.

For a Linux beginner it can be hard especially when some say Linux Mint is a beginners Distro...whey relise it's not a free copy of windoze and you need to learn...they run back to windoze.

With all the problems windoze has had in the past and now being so much worse...you'd think Linux Forums would be over flowing with new members but that's not the case.

Anyway you'll find this Forum fairly active...enjoy.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

when i first used mint as a default distro i signed to mint forum and yeah its had a big and activity community

and what happen its happen and i went to debian and forget about forums... (find some solution in old topics)

last days i went to debian forum, the guys in it are nice, but the forum is so, so sleepy.... (the good and bad reason is any post or any edit will be reviewed by admins, even not put dangerous command and talk about cats)

and return to mint forum. some problem its happened

and in this forum also they are one or two who is activity, and some ordinary users who type a post and vanished

i dont know why, mybe bcs of reddit and discord communities (reddit is a good place to find solutions, its good after all)

Various Linux forums are not very active compared to non-linux forums, I think simply because there aren't that many Linux users.
And reddit and discord is mostly populated with younger people or at least younger folks prefer them.

I personally don't like reddit and discord, these platforms are not like forums, they're designed for one liner responses, people except solution in a single one line post, but often time troubleshooting something takes a page or more.

---

IIRC, on debian forums first 10 or so posts are usually mod approved before you get privilege for instant posting.
And these forums have no restriction, don't know for other forums but first 10 approval is not very popular thing.

 

[Deleted member 197709]

Personally, I doubt forum statistics in general does not accurately represent the amount of Linux users, old and new. If anything, I would think it would probably represent a very small amount of Linux users.

Linux has gotten rather easy to install in recent years having a working system, usable, with practically no knowledge needed with a default install. Depending on which distro one decides to use ofcourse. Documentation is all over the place, even without the many forums around, when seeking. Since the 90s with Linux, this is the first Linux forum I ever signed up to.

 

[lazy_lain]

I don't think this is 'secret data'. So, this is our activity in the past year

do you see in oct 2025 posts reaches in thier prime and get lower

(also pewdiepie made video about linux and thats another marketing)

in this days i thought we reached open source era and punished microsoft politics

but what happen is happen and we see in 2026 linux users in os users chart its 3%

(the zorinOS devs said over 800k win users switched to their os after win end of support)

This is pretty much what a few of us were saying. We didn't expect a bunch of new users who stuck with it. To that end, we've seen all sorts of people say that they give up and are headed back to Windows.

I admit, this isn't what I'd hoped for -- but it is what I expected. While I don't want Linux to get too popular as a desktop OS (because of all the stuff that comes with that), it'd be nice to have maybe 10% of the desktop market.

and thats what i talk about it

if they see gnu/linux is hard and cant use their software or its not compatibility with their hardware so why most of them making linux like use templeOS if their not try to understand how unix system is work or tried another distro or DE even if they tried WM....

in the last linux dosent need if thier users reached 5% or 90% bcs most of servers and companies used gnu/linuw (also freeBSD who use unix system)

 

[lazy_lain]

For a Linux beginner it can be hard especially when some say Linux Mint is a beginners Distro...whey relise it's not a free copy of windoze and you need to learn...they run back to windoze.

for any no reason i remember reactOS i think its the name, who copied everything in windows libraries (also blue screen problem lol)

and AI slop problem the bros mentioned it its another problem, its also taking stak overflow downed, so i dont know if blamed AI or thank him

For a Linux beginner it can be hard especially when some say Linux Mint is a beginners Distro...whey relise it's not a free copy of windoze and you need to learn...they run back to windoze.

its their problem if they see a simple distro does its need to learn it and how its work, not after give up and said cheapest propaganda that linux its not for beginner (how do you need to be advanced and you dint even try a basic command )

and thx have a great day and my god bless you

 

[lazy_lain]

IIRC, on debian forums first 10 or so posts are usually mod approved before you get privilege for instant posting.
And these forums have no restriction, don't know for other forums but first 10 approval is not very popular thing.

i think they will put irc in mesum, i also signed in anotheer forum and after i get activ in it they approved an irc chat, so mybe this is the protocol who forums its used

i dont use non-linux forums or any forums just linux and arabic forums, and their activity its under rockbottom, another os i dont know if their had users or non

but in my test i can said the forums era is ended bcs of social media who its now 95% brain rot

I personally don't like reddit and discord, these platforms are not like forums, they're designed for one liner responses, people except solution in a single one line post, but often time troubleshooting something takes a page or more.

try old reddit mybe your liked it

yeah discord is had toxic communities much than reddit

but reddit has usefull content if you know what you follow

 

[lazy_lain]

Linux has gotten rather easy to install in recent years having a working system, usable, with practically no knowledge needed with a default install. Depending on which distro one decides to use ofcourse. Documentation is all over the place, even without the many forums around, when seeking. Since the 90s with Linux, this is the first Linux forum I ever signed up to.

they use in 90s a distro its called slakware wh its still alived

but alas, poor win users. who they cant find adobe programs, or docs, event if their hardware its not compatility with their distro, and hate to use drivers
so what they said if their try arch or gentoo? (i dont use them but try to install freebsd, its hard and get me a long time but its enjoyable to biuld it and download ports and xorg libraries from 0, mybe i will try LFS in future)

 

[CaffeineAddict]

@lazy_lain
IIRC means "If I Recall Correctly"

try old reddit mybe your liked it

yeah discord is had toxic communities much than reddit

but reddit has usefull content if you know what you follow

I'd use Discrod before Reddit, already have an account there to follow few games.

 

[lazy_lain]

@lazy_lain
IIRC means "If I Recall Correctly"


I'd use Discrod before Reddit, already have an account there to follow few games.

sorry i thought its internet relay chat