Linux Is Popular? Now Wait a Minute
section: common, for your questions: KezNews forum, 17.12.2007
My Linux-Watch colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols' definition of desktop Linux popularity is rather disturbing.
Today, he recounted the results of the Linux Foundation Survey 2007 in a post at DesktopLinux. Maybe he loves Linux just too darn much, because his take is—shall I say—over the top.
SJVN is an excellent dot-the-eyes and cross-the-tees kind of reporter. There's nothing really factually wrong with his reporting on the Linux survey. Sometimes, though, his Linux lovin' ways come through too strongly.
"The first thing we can say about the Linux desktop in 2007 is that there are more users than ever," SJVN writes. He seems to base this conclusion on the number of survey respondents, supposedly twice as many as in 2006, or 20,000 Linux desktop users. No disrespect, but twice as many respondents to a self-selected survey does not mean "more users than ever."
Now here's a choice paragraph: "The Linux Foundation survey also found that the Linux desktop has become a mainstream desktop replacement. While many businesses use Linux as a development desktop (53.3 percent), almost two-thirds (66.1 percent) use it as a client desktop. Linux is no longer just an operating system for the technically inclined."
Linux is a mainstream desktop? Oh, please, get a life! That's quite the audacious statement based on the responses of 20,000 Linux users. A November Forrester Rsearch survey of IT decision makers revealed that worldwide only about 2 percent of businesses run Linux. By contrast, Windows is on 94 percent of business PCs.
"Ubuntu rocketed to a near-household name after it signed with Dell on May 1 of this year," wrote Forrester analyst Benjamin Gray. "But Dell has yet to commit Linux on enterprise-class PCs despite Michael Dell's promise to unleash Linux on the SMB market eventually."
What's perplexing about the Linux Foundation survey: Around 55 percent of respondents run Ubuntu at the office and about the same number at home. Those numbers don't resonate with other analyst data, where distributions like Red Hat are regarded as market leaders for business deployments.
Linux "also is an operating system that its users have near complete trust in," SJVN writes. Really? Which users? Most people run Windows—or so says Forrester.
I love this: "When desktop Linux is deployed in a business, it's being deployed in a big way," SJVN writes. He quotes a ridiculous finding from the survey that is just so easy to blow out of context: Nearly 41 percent respondents run Linux on more than half of their PCs; the comparable for Windows 57.5 percent. No wonder SJVN is giddy. Either desktop number, for Linux or Windows, is the open-source Holy Grail. Windows is beatable, damn it. Long live Linus Torvalds!
Wait, put the cork back in the champagne bottles. This survey is no cause for celebration. The survey respondents are self selected and, presumably, they are more amicable to Linux than other folks. Among this group of presumed Linux enthusiasts, only 40.6 percent have the operating system running on half or more of their desktop PCs. Among this group, the percentage should be a whole lot higher.
File this in Joe's "simply couldn't resist department": Last month, I blogged about how Linux is no threat to Vista. I asserted that driver support/installation is a problem area. Some Microsoft Watch commenters called me bad names for this assertion. For shame! The Linux Foundation survey asked about major obstacles to Linux adoption. No. 1 obstacle: "Missing device driver support" (40.8 percent).
I understand that SJVN is a true believer as, presumably, are the good folks over at the Linux Foundation. I'm sure that if I surveyed Americans working for tobacco companies about cigarette smoking that lots of them would in fact be smokers. X percent of respondents say they smoke and X percent prefer Lucky Strike. But the self-selected group wouldn't speak for the broader US population.
The Linux Foundation survey doesn't speak for the masses of IT organizations. No amount of Linux lovin' from my esteemed colleague SJVN will change that fact.
source:
microsoft-watch.com
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Comments(19)
linux only holds 4% of the market share... give up already lol
i'v tried installing linux distributions on more then one occasion, on more then one
mb, ussualy i drop the attempt at one or other cryptic error message.
i could
understand missing drivers, but the messages you sometimes get...
with windows , you
launch a setup and 30 minutes later you can start using the pc.
anyone who clings to microsoft and its lineup of tired but market-saturated operating
systems needs to examine his/her own motivations for such a slanted perception about
linux. i am totally new to linux (4 mths) and i've had no problems with device drivers
that i haven't had with windows of any flavor. my move to linux was indeed set in motion
by the purchase of a new machine that came with vista pre-installed. what a harrowing
experience to have to learn to use my computer from the ground up after 14 years. vista
offered nothing but a new, shiny coat of headaches on top of what is essentially windows
xp. even the eyecandy was a tremendous let-down. trust me. i'm not the only one who
decided that if i'm going to have to start all over, i'm going to start all over with an
os that doesn't smack of conformity and mediocrity. i prefer to focus my attention
toward a community who is dedicated to the actual progression of software technologies
rather than pandering to the market and grasping for the almighty dollar. although i am a
capitalist through and through, technology and science should be unfettered by the whims
of the market. if i can figure out how to drop your newsletter, i'm doing that today. i
haven't had windows on my machine in two months and i gave my vista cd away.
that's fine about linux but what are you doing on this windows site? you obviously
can't let go of windows!
i also tried ubuntu in my home laptop but after 50% setup it displays error massage i
already tried more then 5times but nothing finally i installed win xp - sp2
what version of ubuntu did you install?
http://www.esp.eweek.com/article/myths+stymie+linux+growth/220508_1.aspx
let windows go? lol. windows hasn't been on my machine in almost two months. i
started out with linuxmint (beautiful, turn-key install, full-featured implementation of
the linux kernel) and have moved on to arch linux (totally stripped down and completely
customizable). that's all i use today. when i bought this new computer,it came with
vista installed. i was somewhat optimistic about this new os and so subscribed to the
newsletter. just figured out how to cancel it (tiny menu item on the left there) so
you'll see this vista defector no more! :-)
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140583-page,5-c,techindustrytrends/article.html
vista voted the biggest disappointment of 2007 by pc world magazine.
arrivederci!
only reason people use vista is to act cool and brag to thier friends that they use it
not linux for which they do not understand nor comprehend.
try
ubuntu,mandriva,freespire.no hardware or periferal incompatibility you will never go back
to windoze..
what do you linux people do on your computers? if all you do is word-process and go on
the internet then linux is great! but when it comes to gaming and other top end media
applications. ect.. then what do you do!? i have had vista since it went retail release
and i have had no problems! well only one with my nvidia 8800gtx card where there were no
drivers but thats all but its ok now!
because most linux user don't worry about immature gaming to get through their life
let linux go??i got linux running in everything from my router-mobile phone- pc!! and i
dont think i would ever use windows if they made the same applications for linux!!
windows and gaming consoles are responsible to for not maturing and 30-40yr olds playing
games????
i feel sorry for all the people who can't get vista running smooth on their machine.
doing a fresh install on recent good quality hardware and it runs like a charm.
what is it with all these linux losers that don't like vista? vista is a great os. i
have used it for 2 years (alpha and beta tested too!) and it evolved with me. vista is
awesome! just try and get your software and drivers to work with linux! what a pathetic
bunch of looosers. check out this article from 'linux magazine' it is called 'what
vista gets right'.
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/4090?r=s
these
people that neg vista just are clueless and dumb.
starwhite , i love you and i hate the ignorant rats/fanboys out there. linux will always
be a useless crap, always. ofc, programmers will like it and until our civilization is
comprised of full time programmers, windows will preval. end of story .. stop whining
already, heck, even mac has a greater market share than linux..burn linux..burnnnnnnnnnn
he guys, linux isn;t that bad of an os. but i gottta admit windows is the best for
business and cating viruses. and yes programming is way better under windowz! when i
delvope something under linux usinbg plonyth or some other opensouce bull shit mman it
just suc.s! go visual studio '08!! linux is ok thoug if you need an alturntave. heres
your linux just put your self in a limited use account in windows and there you have it a
very very sucure os, that is 20000000 times better than any linux!!!! window
firstly at rush: troll harder, your spelling gives it away 0/10.
secondly:
desktop linux is on the way up. it is, admittedly, still no where near the user friendly
level required for windows converts but it's gettting there quickly. the userbase is
growing at over 100% a year. thinks look bright.
first than anything sir, vista's drm check on every multimedia file you play will
unnecessarily slow-down your computer.
second, it's annoying and really
irritating not-so-permissive ui is that, annoying and irritating.
third, you
can't customize a windows, can you? if you name:
- icons
- themes
-
special "mods"
then you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
and last, gnu/linux is the other way around:
- it's drm-free.
- it
has a high level of security, but core-side, not ui-side. you only need permissions to get
ahold of root privileges and that's all about it.
- you can actually customize the
way your os works with a gnu/linux. talk about (your own) modifications to the kernel,
prepare and compile it specifically to your system, load modules built specially for your
system so there are no compatibility issues, and much more.
oh and the main
thing about gnu/linux: it supports a lot (read: a lot) of hardware. and if it isn't, wait
a few days or search on the forums. support for it is quite fast, unlike win$ux.
~erkurita at gnu/linux debian "sid"
"linux is:
- it's drm-free. "
~seriously now, you dont have to use
windows media player, comon
"- it has a high level of security, but core-side,
not ui-side. you only need permissions to get ahold of root privileges and that's all
about it. "
~ok, being paranoid is not healthy. you are not secure unless you
unplug your modem, no matter what os you use, deal with it!
"- you can
actually customize the way your os works with a gnu/linux. talk about (your own)
modifications to the kernel, prepare and compile it specifically to your system, load
modules built specially for your system so there are no compatibility issues, and much
more. "
~what is there to customize? lol .. heck if i was that desperate, i
would create my own language and os .. oh wait, i did ha!
you make very weak
arguments and none of them are viable. i would use a mac before i use linux
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WTF ???
By Bill Gates on 18.12.2007 - 03:12