Comments on: Speak up!

By: TGS Nellor

TGS Nellor — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:27:32 +0000

My experience is that more than half of Linux users used at least 3 different distros and rest mostly a single one. So average about 2 distros per linux user. So you can cound 22 million Fedora users + 22 million Ubuntu users. My guess is – some 4% of PC’s are running with Linux distro. Top Linux countries: Germany, Finland, France, Brazil, S.Africa, Sweden, Norway, Iceland. Biggest increase: Latin America. Low: Asia (they use Windows pirates)

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:36:21 +0000

It is tough when almost any computer you buy comes with windows. I know companies like dell have been getting there feet/toes wet by providing an alternative linux OS like ubuntu.

When you go out looking for a computer it is cheaper to purchase one from some big suppliers with the OS installed then to build one and put a Linux OS on. What makes things even stupider and next to impossible is finding a place to purchase a computer without an OS. Its sad how MS has there fingers wrapped around these companies. If some Linux distro can get into this market share it could really make a impact?

By: Paul Olinger

Paul Olinger — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:12:26 +0000

The best chance Linux had at making awesome gains on the desktop was with netbooks. Asus opened a potential door for Linux to really take charge in the newly formed netbook market. But what do they end up doing? They use a neutered version of Xandros with a bland-looking kiddie interface.

Ask any Linux expert and they’ll tell you all kinds of ways that the eeepc, and any netbook with pre-installed Linux could have been a lot better. In fact, with little effort, any desktop environment can be made to look and behave nearly identical to Windows if that is really what the casual person wants.

The amazing thing about the 1% user amount you talk of though, it was enough to make Microsoft keep XP around longer, and practically give it away free to netbook manufacturers. Even at 1%, Linux is still quite a force in the market.

By: Mace Moneta

Mace Moneta — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:00:55 +0000

10 million? The number you are probably seeing is the Market Share. This number only takes into account the number of copies of Linux sold. The number you are interested in is the Installed Base, the number of copies actually installed. Since there is no registration requirement for Linux, that number is unknown.

The Fedora project says that about 22 million unique IP addresses connect to their repositories:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Statistics

Canonical says their numbers are about the same for Ubuntu. That’s 40+ million for just two distributions (of 300+). About 20% of the 35 million netbooks sold last year run Linux too. This year, smartbooks will be making a big push, and they will be running primarily Linux.

The definition of a ‘desktop’ is a question too. Many younger folks do almost everything on their smartphones. Linux is a major player in that market, with Android, WebOS and Maemo devices. Motorola alone has indicated they will be introducing 20-30 Android phones this year.

Linux is everywhere at this point; in routers, TVs, DVRs, PMPs. It’s so omnipresent, it’s invisible. :)