Clickbaity title on the original article, but I think this is the most important point to consider from it:
After getting to 1% in approximately 2011, it took about a decade to double that to 2%. The jump from 2% to 3% took just over two years, and 3% to 4% took less than a year.
Get the picture? The Linux desktop is growing, and it’s growing fast.
I’d argue that Android is not a desktop OS, but SteamOS is.
That doesn’t really matter to the point I’m making. Some Android users do things like install AOSP after building it themselves from source or install one of many custom open source Android distributions such as LineageOS or YAAP. I would consider this type of person much more of a Linux user than a person who buys a SteamDeck and just plays games on it.
The key difference for me is that a Linux user is aware of the open source movement around Linux and at least engages in some aspect of the open source community. They don’t have to become a software developer or a contributor or even a hacker. They just have to be aware of the fact that they’re using Linux (regardless of the name of the distribution they’re using), that Linux is open source, and that they can (and do, at least in some small way) exercise some of the freedoms of open source that are afforded to them.
A person who buys a SteamDeck and merely plays games on it might be aware that it’s running Linux (they might’ve heard it from someone else) but if they don’t care about that and don’t engage with any of the things that make it Linux then they might as well be using a proprietary OS (or even using a dishwasher with Linux on it for that matter).
We’re talking about the 6% market share Linux holds in >desktop< usage. Not about how somebody is aware of what OS they are using.
It doesn’t matter if people who buy a steam deck is not aware he’s using a linux desktop OS…
A lot of appliances use a linux kernel (I would assume), but that does not make it a desktop OS.
If someone buys a Steam Deck and uses it only to play games then would you say they’re acting as a desktop computer user?