Published at LXer:

We are delighted to say that Europe consistently shows GNU/Linux growth, and it is not limited to something locked down such as ChromeOS (better than Windows, but not a path towards true digital freedom).

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I've been repurposing old Windows machines with Linux for years now, people are happy to have a decent working machine, as they mostly only use them for the internet anyway!

Plus these new people will see:

1. Old Computers (10 years old or less) with Linux or BSD runs as fast if not faster then Windows
2. Everytime Microsoft makes a change (TPM2), you do not need to go out and buy a new computer
3. reduses E-Waste

Lets hope many people realizes this.

I've flirted with Windows on occasion recently because I game a bit. But with my hardware not being capable of satisfying Microsoft I have more push to keep using Linux for everything. The games I play don't need more muscle and I have no intention of trashing a machine that has plenty of life left in it because Microsoft says so.

I can imagine economics might factor in to a bit of growth as well. While things are somewhat stable at the end of the day for the typical person around that has a desktop / laptop upgrading to a new machine is more painful than it used to be on the wallet. So they will inevitably look for alternatives I'd guess.