Why Linux Overtook macOS on Developers’ Desktops in 2022

“2022 is the year of the Linux desktop,” a programmer from Amazon’s K8s team wrote in a recent blog, citing the Stack Overflow 2022 Developer Survey.

The survey shows that 40.23% of respondents now list Linux as their primary operating system, overtaking macOS and widening the gap to 9%.

Last year Linux and macOS were almost tied (difference of 0.13%). About 15% of users also run Linux via WSL on Windows.

Linux Beats macOS for the First Time

Over 71,500 developers participated in the survey. Respondents were asked which OS they use for personal and work purposes.

In both cases Linux leads, especially for personal use: 28,765 respondents (40.23%) chose Linux versus 22,217 (31.07%) for macOS, a near‑10% gap.

For work use, 28,523 chose Linux (39.89%) and 23,578 chose macOS (32.97%), still a gap of about 7%.

About 15% of respondents use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), further confirming Linux’s popularity.

Historically, Linux’s share grew slowly (23.2% in 2018, 25.6% in 2019, 26.6% in 2020) and only in 2021 did it narrowly surpass macOS.

In work scenarios macOS still leads (30.04% vs 25.17%). Linux’s rise is attributed to cloud adoption, mature desktop distros, Raspberry Pi dominance, multi‑platform tooling, and better hardware compatibility.

Steam’s Linux market share also grew, from 1.06% in January to 1.44% in November 2022, boosted by the Steam Deck handheld.

At the Akademy 2022 conference, Steam Deck shipments exceeded one million units.

Is Linux Really That Popular?

Some users question the data because the total percentages for operating systems no longer sum to 100%, indicating many respondents selected multiple OSes.

“For people who mainly use it for work, the numbers seem unrealistically high; for developers who use Linux daily, they seem too low.”

Criticisms include unfriendly UI, complex installation, and package management, yet many still feel Linux’s popularity is rising, citing remote terminals, virtual machines, and improved hardware support (e.g., Manjaro).

Some users adopt a hybrid approach: Linux at home, macOS at work.

Other Notable Survey Highlights

1. Rust remains the most loved language for the seventh year, with ~87% of developers wanting to continue using it, alongside Python and TypeScript as top languages to learn.

2. Docker overtook Git as the most used tool, rising from 55% to 69% usage.

3. Docker and Kubernetes rank as the top‑desired tools, with Docker usage increasing from 30% to 37%.

4. Phoenix replaces Svelte as the most popular web framework; Angular.js remains the most disliked, while React.js is the most desired to learn.

5. Clojure yields the highest developer salaries.

6. Online learning popularity rose from 60% to 70%; older developers (45+) still prefer books.

7. 62% of respondents spend over 30 minutes daily solving problems; 25% spend more than an hour.

8. 85% of developers report that their companies support remote work.

For full details, see the Stack Overflow 2022 survey report.