Meet 120 Companies Running Ubuntu Linux Servers and Desktops
The next time somebody tells you that Ubuntu isn't for business, check out this list of more than 120 businesses and organizations across the globe running Ubuntu on servers, desktops and mobile systems. The companies are part of the fast-growing Works With U 1000 list, which will eventually track 1,000 Ubuntu-focused companies across the globe. Take a look or add your company to the list. |
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Comments (10)
But if Ubuntu has 8 million and Mandriva has 7 million, that only leaves 12 million for all the other distros.
Now, I'd bet that the Fedora is pretty close to Ubuntu and Mandriva, and I doubt Debian is far behind. Add in SuSE, and I expect we're already over the 27 million figure, without even getting to the other distros.
@ jdixon, don't forget about Red Hat, it has a very large userbase, both in the professional world and in the form of the clones.
I think Linux left the 27million figure in the dust quite a while back, just my O. You can't really measure it.
Heisenberg effect?
Sites crumble because they get featured on a Linux oriented site like Slashdot. You don't hear about sites being 'ZDNetted' or even 'CNNed'.
When a company web page gets featured on a PC centered site or a neutral site, nada. But the Linux geeks seem to have numbers that the other non Linux sites can't muster.
It could be that the Windows users machines want to go to the link they click, but the flash adds and other junk at the Windows centric sites just causes a BSOD before the link gets resolved. There might be more Windows users, but their numbers are neutralized by all of the random crashes.
My opinion is that it's the mindshare of the geek crowd that matters if you are talking about the future, not the number of boxes sold with an attached Windows license. My employer won't buy a non-Windows computer, but I've booted into XP exactly once.
Between Myth TV, smart Phones, and Netbooks Linux has been getting a greater mindshare of the non-technical yet geeky crowd.
Ubuntu seems to help in mindshare of regular non-technical, non-geeky computer users.
I'm reminded of the mid to late 90's when the non-Linux yet still technical IT crowd started seeing Linux as a viable low-end file and print server... Then a mail server... Then a web server... Then a database server... Then a viable server platform for any IT need.
The mindshare is growing.
Mandriva seems to have a very strong presence in Africa and South America, and the ex Soviet countries and Russia.
I'm not sure how Mark Shuttleworth might arrive at his figures, probably based on CDs mailed out.
Fedora/Red Hat has got to be at least as strong as Mandriva and Ubuntu, and the same applies to SuSE, so I'm seeing at least 32 Million, even if we assume no more than the same number, as each of the above Distros, for all of the others combined, we're talking at least 40 Million.
Based on this article http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/Apple-reports-reco... Apple seem to be claiming sales of Mac at about 8 million units a year, that's for the 2007/2008 period, which includes a 41% increase in sales, I'd say that Linux and Mac are at least level pegging. Based on my usual wet finger metric, I believe that Linux uptake is actually higher than Mac sales.
The conclusion I draw is that Windows uptake, if not sales (as almost every PC sold is a Windows sale) are slipping. The ramification of this is that while the actual number of Windows Licenses has increased (they can't not) the flow on effect is that there are less sales of Microsoft upstream products like Office. This will hurt Microsoft, as they are probably not making any profit from the Windows OEM licenses, as most if not all of that income is probably eaten up in product promotions.
I think desktop Linux uptake is very healthy, and it is frightening some people.
Market share is not all that important in a non-saturated market. Apple used the be the market leader in personal computer sales in the late 70's. It took them 4 years to sell their millionth Apple II from 1977 until 1981.
They sell 8 million Macs a year now, so their market share is small, but they are selling 32 times as many computers as when they were the king of market share.
25 years from now Microsoft may have 4% or 40% market share, but they may be shipping more copies of Windows than they are now and they might be a more profitable company.
Linux is growing, and it will continue to grow. Linux, or some FOSS OS, will be the market leader.
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and according to this article http://robitaille.wordpress.com/2006/12/30/ubuntu-now-has-ov... Ubuntu has over 8 Million users
which means that Ubuntu and Mandriva have a similar number of users, with, based on Mark Shuttleworths assessment Mandriva running a close second. Interestingly that is at odds with the download popularity metric that puts Ubuntu way ahead of just about everything, and Mandriva a very poor 5th.
Some other interesting points from the second article.
Linux and Mac have a similar number of users.