You know, I do wonder how many of these statistics are influenced by Linux users tendancy to use adblockers and block tracking. Linux could be more popular than it looks.
Also, they should tell us how much of that increase is due to the Steam Deck. :P
Only a very tiny number of Linux users spoof their browser’s user agent, which these statistics are based on.
The issue is whether the data is collected by a known third party tracker domain which would be blocked by an adblocker
Large sites usually have their own first-party analytics. Often they don’t want third parties to be in possession of detailed analytics data.
Unfortunately, due to the constant willful or untested shenanigans of various website I have set up all my system’s Firefox profiles to spoof by default its user agent (and other JavaScript properties) as Windows 11, x86_64, Firefox LTS (even if I use latest, Aurora or beta). Some blantant recent example: YouTube uses lower quality options on browsers running on Arm-based systems — misreporting as an x86 CPU appears to be a widespread browser fix
Doing so has helped me and many friends/family I switched to a flavor of Linux (mostly Mint, but sometimes LMDE or Ubuntu or specific requirements/demands) avoid numerous dumb problems.
Even on mobile sometimes UX breaking issues creep up.
