After a longer break, we're back with statistics from our virtual servers, specifically the breakdown by distribution.
We've published statistics on distribution shares across our infrastructure several times before. Since some time has passed since the last figures, we decided to take another count and share the results.
We currently host 2121 virtual servers for 1433 members. Installations use templates, so we know exactly who installed which distribution. Versions may change over time, but the underlying system remains.
Since we add an average of 150 virtual servers each year, most distributions grew in absolute numbers. There were four exceptions: Fedora, Gentoo, openSUSE and Scientific Linux lost users. Scientific Linux had already been declining after development ended.
The traditional leading trio remains Debian, Ubuntu and CentOS. Together, they run on 87.1% of servers, slightly less than three years ago (89.6%). Interestingly, while CentOS holds its relative third place, Ubuntu is gradually catching up with Debian. In the previous count, Debian ran on half the servers and Ubuntu on a quarter; this year, Debian fell to 43% while Ubuntu grew to 30%. Ubuntu could therefore take first place within the next few years.
The biggest riser by far is NixOS. Three years ago, it wasn't running on any of our virtual servers; this year, there are 79 installations. That puts NixOS in fourth place, and it probably hasn't had its last word yet.
Alpine Linux, on the other hand, has slowed after its rapid arrival, adding users very slowly. The same goes for other distributions such as Arch Linux, and Devuan. This Debian clone without systemd runs on only seven servers. It was a hot new arrival three years ago, but hasn't had much success yet.
Void Linux remains unchanged at one installation, as does Slackware at two. The results are in the following table:
| Distribution | Share | Count | Abs. change | Rel. change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Linux | 1.5% | 32 | +9 | +39% |
| Arch Linux | 1.6% | 34 | +18 | +53% |
| CentOS | 13.8% | 293 | +77 | +26.2% |
| Debian | 43.2% | 917 | +116 | +14.5% |
| Devuan | 0.33% | 7 | +3 | +42.8% |
| Fedora | 1.0% | 23 | -2 | -8.7% |
| Gentoo | 3.5% | 50 | -5 | -9% |
| NixOS | 3.7% | 79 | +79 | – |
| OpenSUSE | 0.4% | 9 | -4 | -44% |
| Scientific | 1.6% | 35 | -22 | -38% |
| Slackware | 0.1% | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Ubuntu | 30.1% | 639 | +232 | +57% |
| Void | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0% |