Linux dark matter obscures real Firefox user numbers
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How many people are using Firefox? It's hard to say because the latest official figures cannot count Linux users who fall into a dark matter phenomena when it comes to the measurement methodology.
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According to John Lilly, the Firefox web browser has 126 million unique monthly users. A figure extrapolated from an Active Daily Users number of 48 million, itself a massive increase on the 23 million ADU figure from this time last year. So who is John Lilly and why should we take any notice of his figures? Well, Lilly happens to be the Chief Operating Officer at Mozilla and the figures have been reached by analysing statistical data from the Firefox browser update service logs.
The actual figure is going to be much higher thanks mainly to the 'Firefox Dark Matter' phenomena that comes courtesy of Linux users. The problem being that users who get their Firefox fix as part of a Linux distro will most likely have the automatic update feature itself disabled, because the distro will manage those security updates instead. Lilley admits that this dark matter exists "but we don't have ways to see it. Linux use certainly accounts for at least single-digit millions every day (and maybe more), but it's hard to say exactly how many." Full Story |
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