r/linux • u/Zodiak1011 • Aug 30 '26

Alternative OS Why does it feel like Linux is suddenly exploding in 2026?

I’ve been seeing more and more people switching to Linux this year, especially gamers. Bazzite, CachyOS, Linux Mint, etc. seem to be getting mentioned everywhere.

Why didn’t we see a massive shift like this earlier? What changed, or what finally pushed people to make the switch?

I know the Steam Deck was probably a big factor in showing people that Linux gaming is actually viable and that Linux isn’t as painful as it used to be.

But what else changed over the last few years that made Linux suddenly feel like a realistic alternative to Windows for so many people?

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u/the_abortionat0r Aug 30 '26

It's more to do with trust and how fragile the US really is and how meaningless our constitution and laws turned out to be.

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u/ThrowAwayYetAgain878 Aug 30 '26

As a European, I think you're both right. Despite eroding trust somewhat, the US was the unquestioned hegemon of the Western world, mostly through soft power (in the end). I would not have believed that a speedrun of putting that into question would have been possible (in practice).

At least, Linux benefits for now lol.

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u/New_Egg_1024 Aug 31 '26

It is much easier to break things than to build them.

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u/Tango8036 Sep 05 '26

It wasn't a speedrun; it happened slowly at first. The utter subversion of the US education system, blurring the lines between church and state, injecting corporate agendas like "climate change isn't proven", etc, took decades. Parents who want to give their children religious education should do it themselves or with Sunday school, not eat into mainstream school's time with "teach the controversy" etc.

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u/ThrowAwayYetAgain878 Sep 05 '26

Various military "interventions" based on pretexts or blatant self-interest didn't help, either. Every one eroded trust a little more.

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '26

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u/realmauer01 Aug 31 '26

And the infrastructure isnt even just american servers, its even european servers if its american software.

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u/Randommaggy Aug 31 '26

Or under American ownership

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u/Kazer67 Aug 31 '26

That's literally why OVH is split into to separate society: world and US.

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u/Bakoro Sep 02 '26

America has 99 problems and I'm not going to address that here.

Digital sovereignty is still an unsolved issue, and the EU has their own serious issues authoritarianism online, and potentially over-reach when it comes to trying to enforce EU law.

I don't have any good answers. I am an American and I don't think that I should have to be worrying about EU law if my business is entirely contained in the U.S, anymore than I should have to follow Missouri law when I'm in California.

The Internet is global though, and if a business is on the Internet, my customers could be anyone from anywhere. Whose laws am I supposed to follow? Now suddenly I have to follow EU and Iranian and Sudanese and Chinese and Brazilian laws all at the same time just because their people might be able to interact with my business?
What happens when laws conflict?

One might say "well then don't do business outside with people outside your country", but why should the onus be on me to track who you are and where you're connecting from?
And, if I have to try to suss out if you're from a particular country, or even a particular state or province in a particular country, then isn't that a privacy issue in and of itself?

This should all be sorted out via international trade agreements, but we keep running into issues that are not being sorted out.

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u/LucieGoosey__ Sep 04 '26

agreed. international trade agreements need to be put in place or repaired.

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u/wilhelm-moan Aug 31 '26

What if it’s just because windows fucking sucks

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u/ILikeBumblebees 24d ago

how meaningless our constitution and laws turned out to be.

In what way has this happened?

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u/psioniclizard Aug 30 '26

No the problem is both sides of the house think similar things about the rest of the world. Trump is just more open about it.

America under both parties currently is about dominanting the world in someone. 

Neither side cares particularly for example that social media companies are happy to push all kinds of shit in Europe because its a mass source of soft power for the US.

Same thing with the reliance on US technology.

Thr problem ultimately is American Exceptionalism which is not jut a one party thing.

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u/punkbert Aug 31 '26

both sides

The dems never threatened to occupy Greenland. They never went amoc on the global economy with insane tax policies. They never started hare-brained wars that massively affected world trade. The dems never tried to dismantle democratic institutions and turn the US into an autocracy. Etc, etc, etc.

Both sides? No. One side is way way worse for the state of the world than the other, and the europeans clearly recognize that.

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u/Key-Mention576 Sep 01 '26

The Dems will stab you in the back, the republicans will stab you in the front, none of them are moral people, one is a good liar, the other is a shit liar but regardless all that comes from them are lies.

The Dems were already doing all that but they were more subtle, the republicans are also doing it but more clumsy and incompetent.