The 5 most popular Linux distributions
These conclusions are not from a formal survey. Why?
IDG and Gartner figures only look at pre-installed server operating systems, and Web browser surveys -- such as StatCounter and NetMarketShare -- don't drill down far enough to say which Linux desktop distributions are the most popular. With that, I have to turn to DistroWatch, the master Linux desktop tracking site for useful desktop Linux use data.
Before launching into this though, I should point out that the most popular end-user Linux of all is probably in your pocket and not on your desktop: Android, of course. With just over half of the U.S. smartphone market, and hundreds of millions of smartphones around the world, Android is the most popular Linux distribution ever; despite 99 percent of its users not realizing that they're Linux users.