What is the most popular Linux?

[Geek-9pm]

What is the most popular Linux distro?
Hard to say. Some have yet to try Linux and might want to know what others like. So go ahead and plug the ones yu like. All it will mean is that some people here might have favorite. Limit yourself   to 4 votes.
The list above not agree with this link:
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

You might like this ZDNet article:

How many Linux users are there anyway?

... Late last year, NetMarketShare admitted it had been overestimating the number of Linux desktops, but they've corrected their analysis.

Hey, this is just for your amusement! Don't get mad!   

[DaveLembke]

I selected the 4 that I mainly use from time to time, but Linux Mint Cinnamon is my #1 preference.

Prior to Mint, I was using Fedora from Fedora Core 4 to version 12. Then tried a newer version of it a few years ago, but still like Mint better.

Ubuntu I used for versions 8 and 9 a ways back, but I got hooked onto Mint with Linux Mint 9.

Slackware Linux I used prior to all of these, and I went with Slackware back 20 years ago when Redhat 6 lacked the video driver I needed to get beyond 640x480 yet there were video drivers for Slackware for 800x600 for SVGA Video card. Additionally Redhat 6 acted oddly with the driver for 640x480 whereas Slackware was happy at 800x600 so I went with stability of existing hardware vs having to swap out a video card for one that is Redhat 6 compatible at a cost.

In regards to: How many Linux users are there anyway?

I have to state that I dont use Linux at home on a daily basis, but I do use it at work on multiple computers and servers. A few years ago I tried to do without Microsoft Windows, and I was using Linux Mint as my main systems OS. However when Adobe and others pulled the plug on Linux support, it caused me to have to go back to Windows to have a browser that would work with Flash content websites. Websites with flash content with Linux kept telling me that I needed to update my Adobe Flash, but you click on the link and go to Adobe and it says your running the latest version which is version locked as the final update for flash due to Adobe pulling the plug on Linux support. So I have a laptop with Linux on it but dont run it as much as I do the Windows computers.

I do occasionally though download the latest ISO's and try them out for different Linux distros to see what is new and familiarize myself with them. But beyond that sadly Linux is a mismatch to my computing habits which involve gaming and websites with flash content that both are broken or crippled under Linux.

For gaming I tried playing games through WINE which I did get games to run, however not having DirectX support but instead relying on OpenGL gameplay dropped framerates to making my GPU act crippled. One example is that I would get 60fps in World of Warcraft with Windows 7 and latest drivers for videocard. On that same build with dual-boot I tried the game through WINE and OpenGL drivers and got 9 FPS which makes the game not very playable.

[Salmon Trout]

Where's Kali? I have to say, personally, that when I use Linux it is the command line tools that I am most interested in, and I don't really see a lot of difference between distros. I have Ubuntu Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on my Windows 10 desktop PC, and also Debian 9 Jessie on a laptop (general fooling around), plus Raspbian 4 (Tor proxy, Torrent box) on a Raspberry Pi 3, and my Seagate NAS (music server, DLNA server, network file server, backup storage for the other machines) runs ARM 5 Linux . My personal view (again) is that where a computer system has a job to do, I choose what I think is a good enough *nix version to do that job, and then leave it alone to get on with it. I have them all on the network, and I can SSH in using the WSL console and whichever one I log on to, I see a Bash prompt and I can do some stuff. That's it. I have spent time in the past distro-hopping, which I now consider to be equivalent to treating Linux as a toy. Linux, after all, is the kernel, and the userland stuff, the GUI etc, is just frosting on the cake. Anyhow that's my 2 cents worth.

[BC_Programmer]

The post title asks "what is the most popular?" but the question being asked is actually "what is your favourite?"

The first question has a lot of different interpretations. If we are talking home use than it is likely Ubuntu. If we are talking in general, it's probably going to be something like CentOS or Solus or some other common web hosting or server distribution of choice.

The latter (for me) is usually more or less the same as Salmon. I've pretty much settled on Linux Mint in terms of home use, though at this point since I work on Windows Software that we give to Windows Only customers there hasn't been a lot of room for me to squeeze Linux in and I've found myself replacing Linux installations with Windows to create various testing boxes (different specs, visual DPI, etc.). I have one laptop and one desktop with Linux Mint installed but they aren't even set up for use.

[Salmon Trout]

and also Debian 9 Jessie on a laptop (general fooling around)

Actually it's a Debian 8 (Jessie) installation updated to Debian 9 (Stretch). Viewed from my desktop PC, I have WSL Ubuntu on localhost, Debian on a laptop, and Raspbian on the R Pi 3 B+. All on the LAN. Each of these has the LXDE desktop environment, which I like because it isn't bloated. And it doesn't insist on putting the god-damned taskbar at the top of the screen! Also, each of these (yes, WSL too), has a VNC server running, so I can get each one's desktop on the main PC using a VNC viewer. Not the NAS, it isn't powerful enough, but there is a web interface.

I have to say that if I have a VNC session to one of the Linux systems, running, I sometimes forget which one it is. They all look alike. That tells me that a lot of distro-difference is the desktop environment.

 

[kelvinpalmer]

I tried linux mint 

[PCdoc]

I use Ubuntu. I have tried Fedora but I didn't like it.

[Vetal]

Over the past couple years I have tried out over twenty distros, and for a M$ expat, only four proved usable. MX Linux, Linux Mint,  TAILS, and AntiX connected to the internet without me having to try (and fail) to set up 'internet connection'. This is the lowest bottom rung requirement for usability when it comes to a LiveCD test drive....so far as I'm concerned. Of these four, I'd say MX Linux is my pick-of-the-litter, being the easiest and most intuitive to use for an XP Pro fan. Second choice is TAILS. Linux Mint and AntiX are both third choice, being evenly matched (neither all that easy or intuitive, but still usable).