Why Ubuntu is going down?

[mörgæs]

It seems to be a general trend. Words like Android, Windows, tablet, Nexus, Galaxy, Iphone, Ipad and the like are also declining, some of them showing brief peaks around a release date or Christmas.

Docker, AWS and Angular are some of the few rising words, but I would guess that they are small in absolute numbers.

Hardware and operative systems are less appealing to people.

[Skaperen]

I agree tablets and smart phones are replacing the desktops and laptops for many nowadays.

Tablets are just easier for those who are on the go and only need to web use and note take etc.

(i agree with) that plus:

there are more distro options these days. i'd like to see the stats of ubuntu combined with the sum of all ubuntu-based based distros as one, over the spaghetti graph of all of them, individually.

China is huge in computer use, now, and its government is making a stronger push of its own official OS to be used in place of all others. i'd like to see a graph with China not included.

[kansasnoob]

From the website:



"Search interest" is much like the numbers on DistroWatch. They don't mean that people are or are not using Ubuntu -- only that they are or are not searching.

The "interest" could simply mean that Ubuntu has become well enough known that people aren't searching it out.

In short: The graph of "falling interest" can't be interpreted in any way to conclude that Ubuntu is "going down".

Fun with stats.

You also have to take into consideration that "flavors" may not be included in such results. Especially on Distrowatch each "flavor" is listed individually.

Something that would be very interesting to know is what desktop environment "nux" people actually use now. I just haven't seen any kind of reliable "poll" regarding popularity of all the various desktop environments. After 11 years of GNOME (2 & 3) I'm pretty much settling in on KDE.

[Irihapeti]

Maybe Ubuntu "Just works" for more people nowadays, so they don't need to search for solutions like they used to do.

I know that I only search for Ubuntu-relevant items when I'm doing something new and unusual (for me, anyway), such as experimenting with a different virtualisation software. That doesn't mean I'm not using Ubuntu the rest of the time.

[SeijiSensei]

I do wonder how kids manage to write essays on their phones. I'd think word processing would be the one relatively common application that is fairly impervious to the trend to smartphones and tablets.

Or maybe they aren't being assigned essays as often in school?

[QIII]

Teachers, it seems, are accepting work done in text-speak.

R U?

[SeijiSensei]

Sad. Speech-to-text might be good for first drafts, but I expected my students to use correct grammar and spelling, and to express their thoughts clearly. No one speaks well enough to meet those criteria.

[sdsurfer]

Those kinds of stats are out of context IMO. I would expect to see a similar downward trend for interest in desktops or even laptops. The money I see people spend on a phone will buy two economy desktop computers.

You can't take a desktop to a concert, can't regurgitate your every thought every two minutes wherever you are, and it doesn't allow you to polish up your ego with selfies with all the girlfriends at the bar and pictures of your feet on a beach.

They call it ""more connected" but the world is getting smaller for a lot of people. Everything they "need" can be confined to a 4" x 5" screen.

[Skaperen]

i think it's ridiculous how people can set and stare at such a small screen for hours at a time like they do.

and they have to view it so close for so long, ruining their vision.

at least that issue can be solved in the future ... by the borg.

[Artim]

Welllll, kids are still using laptops and desktop computers, but really, almost always only for school work, like term papers, book reports and "web quests" where you search the web for answers to questions. Outside of school, rarely. Unless you're a big-time gamer (in which case it's all still Windows) and use a desktop instead of a console.