Gamers are the majority of the desktop space, and only growing in percentage as nowadays the main reason someone has a PC is for gaming with phones replacing almost all other uses. Also gaming has been historically the main issue with Linux, so looking at gaming stats has always been the pessimistic way of looking at this.
Steam Deck might skew things a bit, but not by that much, as only 23% of Linux users are on SteamOS, so even subtracting all of those (which is not correct as some people might have a Deck and also play on other Linux, like myself) you still have a 6.5% pure Linux user base, which is what the message you’re replying mentioned. Also I would argue people using the Steam Deck are using Linux, whether their other devices are Linux or not is irrelevant to the point that they are Linux users.
Gamers are the majority of the desktop space, and only growing in percentage as nowadays the main reason someone has a PC is for gaming with phones replacing almost all other uses. Also gaming has been historically the main issue with Linux, so looking at gaming stats has always been the pessimistic way of looking at this.
Steam Deck might skew things a bit, but not by that much, as only 23% of Linux users are on SteamOS, so even subtracting all of those (which is not correct as some people might have a Deck and also play on other Linux, like myself) you still have a 6.5% pure Linux user base, which is what the message you’re replying mentioned. Also I would argue people using the Steam Deck are using Linux, whether their other devices are Linux or not is irrelevant to the point that they are Linux users.