Hoover's?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| pogson Jun 24, 2006 9:43 AM EDT |
"According to Hoover's, RHAT dominates the market for Linux" Ahem! Sure RHat is big, but what about Suse/Novell, Ubuntu, Mandriva, Debian? RHat is big in North America, but Linux is tiny in North America. Lots of Linux is happening in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa. see http://fedora.redhat.com/download/mirrors.html The Fedora mirrors are in North America, Europe and Japan. There are hardly any elsewhere. Fedora is third on the http://distrowatch.com hit parade. In North America, about 10% of the PC market is Linux. In China, it's 30% with very little of that RHat. Most of the market in North America is locked into Wintel. Emerging markets, essentially, have no lock in. They go with what's new, hot and cheap, Linux. The long delay of Vista is pumping Linux up in emerging markets. Who would want to start from nothing with obsolete software (Windows) at a high price instead of current software (Linux) that is cheap? |
| NoDough Jun 24, 2006 12:05 PM EDT |
>According to Hoover's, RHAT dominates the market for Linux Key phrase: "market for Linux" They aren't addressing software freedom, just the market dollars Linux distributors are generating. Hoover's is all about the bottom line. |
| pogson Jun 24, 2006 7:39 PM EDT |
Ford used to say he would give the cars away for free if he could charge what he wanted for the parts/service. The Linux distributor who has a large chunk of the installations should be able the grow the bottom line more readily than the fellow who has a small slice. It's called "Creating Demand". The distributor who can get Linux into schools, businesses, homes and offices, even for free, will survive and prosper because these folks will want his services eventually. Linux is much more cost effective than Windows, so the money saved will go into more installations. These customers are not in the business of installing and maintaining Linux and as their use of technology increases, they will want more services. Linux will be in rapid growth in installation for at least another five years. I do not think it matters who is making more dollars from it now, but a few years down the road whoever has the largest installed base will be in the best position. I believe 2006 is the tipping point. The tech/hobbiest community know Linux potential well. Enterprise/government/education are using it widely on servers. 30% growth rate is happening now. I think this year, enough people have encountered Linux somewhere that it will take off on the desktop in homes. The delay of Vista, all the news of malware, movement by Dell (alongside a movement to AMD), massive adoption on the desktop by governments and some enterprises simply can no longer be ignored. When we consider this is happening without spending billions on advertising like Bill does, I cannot see anything holding wide adoption back. Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot. Whatever Linux distro goes for it now will win. I do not think it is RedHat. They are too focussed on making bucks now. They are putting up barriers to using their product. My field is education. Five years ago I did not know any schools that used Linux on the desktop (except in my classroom). Now whole school divisions are feeling the glow. I have been hired partly because I know Linux. Students are going out into the world knowing choice exists. They, and employees of governments and businesses using Linux will advertise the product by word of mouth. RedHat has left this market up to Fedora to play and has not sold Linux aggressively there. Novell, Mandriva, and Ubuntu are going full bore. RedHat has a solid niche on North American business, but Microsoft is filling most of the room. Linux adoption rates are highest for schools, small businesses, and governments who are not locked in to Microsoft or who value price and freedom. RedHat may have made a few dollars, but they are not Linux and they do not have mind-share. |
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