Stats from top million websites

Quoting: From the comments to the article, the claim is based on stats from the top million web servers, not necessarily "large-scale enterprise deployments", from which RedHat makes money.

A second comment notes that Shuttleworth has been unable or unwilling to prove that these are paying customers. So are we are seeing a repeat of the desktop strategy?:

• 1.Dominate SMB/low-end cloud market with subsidized business model (no profit required)to flood out COMMERCIAL competition.



• 2.Be the more CONVENIENT supplier than community-based servers like Debian,e.g.by more easily discoverable without time-consuming research,more convenient/commonly available deployment,more plug & play,etc.



• 3.Make third parties into TEAMMATES by having them synchronize release schedules around Ubuntu,encouraging contribution to the convenience advantage like PPA's and all the volunteer efforts around the desktop.



• 4.Underrated are the subtle psychological tactics:third party partnership means not only buy-in but also a kind of public declaration of support - publically-stated commitments are remarkably hard for us somewhat automaton-like humans to go back on.

Similarly remarkable is how we feel obligated when we receive a gift, like all those Ubuntu newbies (and even time-comstrained oldies) who thought Shuttleworth created easy-to-use/install free software/massive repositories, despite the presence of Knoppix and other Debian derivatives.

People deny they are affected by these human weaknesses but they are known to marketers as powerful influencers ( http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert... ) .

Microsoft similarities include partnering with consultants by feeding them exclusive "expert tips" on MS tech, showering of "gifts" on devs/journalists, ensuring lack of convenience of non-MS tech.