12% of Tech Workers Believe macOS is Based on Linux

Over 70% believe in at least one common Myth of Computer History.

The following data was derived from the 2025 Tech Industry Demographic Survey, which included over 12,000 respondents -- from across companies and organizations throughout the Tech Industry -- surveyed during February of 2025.

Ready to have your mind blown?

According to those surveyed:

• Nearly 12% believe that macOS is based on Linux.

• Over 70% believe in at least one common Myth of Computer History.

• The most commonly believed myth (at 52%) is the myth that "the first computer bug was a real bug (a moth)".

Those who took the survey were presented with 6 common (but debunked) computer history myths... and were asked to select the myths which they believed to be true and factual historical statements.

Here is the breakdown of how many believed in each myth.

One rather fascinating piece of data: Those percentages held steady for nearly every demographic group within the survey.

For example:

Roughly 12% of respondents who prefer Linux, believe macOS is based on Linux. The same was true of Windows users, C / C++ programmers, and those who perfer the Firefox Web Browser... no matter what sub-group was looked at... that number stayed roughly steady (around 12%).

The one outlier appeared when I looked at how many myths a person says they believe in... grouped by generic political leanings (Left, Centrist, or Right Leaning).

Notice that the percentage of respondents who "Believe at least one myth" or "Believes 4+ myths" stays roughly consistent (with only mild variances) across all three political groupings.

But, if you look at the "Believes 3+ myths" data, there is an 8% spike among those who identify as "Left Leaning".

While all surveyed were likely to believe at least one myth, "Left Leaning" respondents were slightly more likely to believe up to 3 myths (of the 6 presented).

The Myths of Computer History

For those curious, here are the 6 myths included in the survey (with links to debunk each of them).

• Bill Gates said “640K ought to be enough for anybody”.

• The first computer bug was a real bug — a moth.

• The first computer programmer was Lady Ada Lovelace.

• The term Open Source was coined by Christine Peterson In 1998.

• The first programmable computer was the ENIAC in 1945.

• macOS is based on Linux. (I don't have an article debunking that myth... but, perhaps, I should...)