Interesting milestone, 5% might not sound huge but for desktop Linux in the US it signals a real shift. Part of this comes from more polished distros lowering the barrier for non-technical users, and part is probably a pushback against aggressive telemetry and forced updates in mainstream OSes.

Also worth noting: if you count Chrome OS under the Linux kernel umbrella, the footprint is even bigger. It shows that open-source roots can quietly gain ground, even if the branding isn’t “Linux” front and center.