Network scans find Linux is growing on business desktops, laptops
It might not be the year of the Linux desktop just yet, but ongoing cyberattacks and a general desire for a more secure posture are driving some businesses to the way of the penguin, according to asset manager Lansweeper.
On the face of it, the movements appear small. Lansweeper's scans of its customers' networks show Linux usage on business endpoints (desktops and laptops) climbing from 1.6 percent in January 2025 to 1.9 percent in June. On assets that appear for the first time after March 1, 2025, usage reached 2.5 percent.
However, considering that the results were pulled from a pool of approximately 18.5 million devices (14 million consumer devices and 3.5 million business machines), the change is more than just a rounding error.
The change is also not a linear one. Lansweeper CTO, Guido Patanella, told The Register that the trend was more along the lines of exponential. Not a blip, but in Patanella's words: "I think there will be a continuous acceleration."
Although the impending demise of Windows 10 might be a factor in some decisions, Patanella reckons the driver is security. "It is certainly more down to the hardening of systems," he told us, pointing to cybersecurity concerns and a seemingly relentless increase in vulnerabilities. To be clear, Linux is not immune to vulnerabilities (and has had its fair share of howlers), but Patanella said that "an exponential growth of ... threats and attacks [was] creating nervousness in IT organizations responsible for security.
