Is it worth supporting Linux on my product?

[carloslfu]

Some products support Linux, and some not. For instance, VScode, and Zoom support Linux, and Figma doesn't. What do you think are the critical aspects of such a decision? I have heard that it does not worth it because Linux users are less than 3% of desktop users, but AFAIK would be more than 30M users.

[rvz]

> I have heard that it does not worth it because Linux users are less than 3% of desktop users, but AFAIK would be more than 30M users.

Depends on the product. If it's a paid SaaS product meant for targeting server applications or developers tools such as automation, then it makes sense for Linux support which is why most Adobe software isn't on Linux since most of their audience is on macOS and Windows.

If it's a GUI product, then you need to 'define Linux support'. You can't support all Linux users 100% of the time since they will be using different distros, thus you need to select 2-3 distros, make sure it runs perfectly on their system and maintain the instructions and updates as well. This sort of maintenance is less involved with Windows and macOS.

If it were me, I'd go where my largest target audience is and compete there first and support smaller demographics last if the demand is there.

[dyingkneepad]

Just make it work on the browser, you'll get Linux almost for free.

Edit: for example, I absolutely hate the idea of downloading some closed source Zoom binary to run from my local user. I have seen the atrocities that closed-source Linux things do to your machine, and I will avoid it as much as possible. I will not consider running your binary if there's an open source or browser-based alternative. Whenever I needed to use Zoom, I did it from the browser (once I learned their extremely evil anti-pattern that leads me to the browser app version).

[jqpabc123]

...AFAIK would be more than 30M users.

I would presume these are more technical users --- with a strong preference for open source.

Does this sound like who your product is for?

It is all about identifying your target market/audience.

[zzo38computer]

Depends what your product is, I think. If you are using SDL, then it won't be too difficult to support Linux. But some things will work fine using some sort of VM code anyways, such as emulation of old game systems, or text-adventure VMs such as Z-machine and Glulx, or HTML. For some products, just ensure it is fully documented; if it isn't available on Linux, some users may then reimplement it on Linux, supporting the same protocol.

[factorialboy]

Depends on your audience. What's the percentage of your audience with Linux? Is the effort of supporting Linux worth the revenue?

[forcemajeure]

Look at the platform demographics and the target audience. For example if you're targeting developers, the market share increases significantly!