Linux is up to a whopping 0.88% market share...

[LinuxMint-4]

Linux is up to a whopping 0.88% market share

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report. ... M&qpsp=121

Why despite all the advances Linux has made, especially with the netbooks and with open source mandates in other countries. Why is Linux only 0.88%?

[eddie]

In any case if you look at the chart closely, it shows Microsoft Software share declining over the past several months. I think you have to pay to see the details as to what the chart is about. The chart also shows I think just netbsd and none of the other bsds. Who knows maybe they are only talking about suse linux market share. The figures do seem to be questionable from our point of view.

http://blog.eracc.com/2009/02/18/linux-market-share/

[diazamet]

The only thing you can take from this is, 80% of statistics are made up*.

(* this statistic is made up)

[NYbill]

The only thing you can take from this is, 80% of statistics are made up*.

(* this statistic is made up)

LOL yep, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

wow, .88% seems awfully low. all these different Linux distros, magazines, podcasts, are all only serving .88% of the market? i'm starting to hear Linux mentioned in popular media. we are starting to see liunux picked up by major computer manufacturers. dell, ASUS, a lot of the netbooks etc... countries are stating to use Linux in governments and schools. and its all only .88% of the market? its hard to believe.

[MattKingUSA]

The only thing you can take from this is, 80% of statistics are made up*.

(* this statistic is made up)

LOL yep, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

wow, .88% seems awfully low. all these different Linux distros, magazines, podcasts, are all only serving .88% of the market? i'm starting to hear Linux mentioned in popular media. we are starting to see liunux picked up by major computer manufacturers. dell, ASUS, a lot of the netbooks etc... countries are stating to use Linux in governments and schools. and its all only .88% of the market? its hard to believe.

I agree, that would be impossible. Russia, France, Venezuela, Nigeria and Brazil all use a ton of Linux from what I hear. And mostly in government and schools. But that should count for a large amount.

[diazamet]

Just out of interest,

a google search for 'windows' yields 1.1billion hits (including hits for double-glazing ,
a search for 'linux' yields 441million hits,
apple bringing up the rear with 128million hits for OSX.

So if there is such a small percentage of linux installations, that small percentage is putting out helluva linux based content on the web!

[NYbill]

i can't find a link to back me up. but i've heard a majority of Internet servers are running Linux/Unix.

for instance, google server farms run linux.

[Claudio]

Just out of interest,

a google search for 'windows' yields 1.1billion hits (including hits for double-glazing ,
a search for 'linux' yields 441million hits,
apple bringing up the rear with 128million hits for OSX.

So if there is such a small percentage of linux installations, that small percentage is putting out helluva linux based content on the web!

Considering that most GNU/Linux support is community-based, that would make sense. Plus, since the Linux kernel is very flexible, there are a lot of projects out there that would put it on devices that aren't standard desktops and notebooks. And yes, these do tend to be community-based as well. Free kernel, free information.

[diazamet]

Just out of interest,

a google search for 'windows' yields 1.1billion hits (including hits for double-glazing ,
a search for 'linux' yields 441million hits,
apple bringing up the rear with 128million hits for OSX.

So if there is such a small percentage of linux installations, that small percentage is putting out helluva linux based content on the web!

Considering that most GNU/Linux support is community-based, that would make sense. Plus, since the Linux kernel is very flexible, there are a lot of projects out there that would put it on devices that aren't standard desktops and notebooks. And yes, these do tend to be community-based as well. Free kernel, free information.

Well from my experience for the end user the only decent support is community based. Have you ever tried to get support from Microsoft as an end-user? Useless! Can't speak for Apple never had the pleasure of help from a 'genius'.

[Claudio]

Just out of interest,

a google search for 'windows' yields 1.1billion hits (including hits for double-glazing ,
a search for 'linux' yields 441million hits,
apple bringing up the rear with 128million hits for OSX.

So if there is such a small percentage of linux installations, that small percentage is putting out helluva linux based content on the web!

Considering that most GNU/Linux support is community-based, that would make sense. Plus, since the Linux kernel is very flexible, there are a lot of projects out there that would put it on devices that aren't standard desktops and notebooks. And yes, these do tend to be community-based as well. Free kernel, free information.

Well from my experience for the end user the only decent support is community based. Have you ever tried to get support from Microsoft as an end-user? Useless! Can't speak for Apple never had the pleasure of help from a 'genius'.

You're absolutely right. And trust me, there's nothing "genius" about those people at the Apple Store.

[eddie]

There sure are a lot of sites for Microsoft help if you want to pay for it. You can get help for free with Microsoft, just be prepared to go through lots of worthless site listings. On a rare occasion msdn and technet will have some kind of solution, but I would get a second opinion.

[dann]

Well you can get a better feel for how these statistics are derived from their about section on their home page:

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/default.aspx

For starter we are talking about statistics for approximately 160 million visitors per month

We collect data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive on-demand network of live stats customers. The data is compiled from approximately 160 million visitors per month.

n addition, we classify 430+ referral sources identified as search engines. Aggregate traffic referrals from these engines are summarized and reported on. The statistics for search engines include both organic and sponsored referrals. The websites in our population represent almost all countries on earth.

So take it for what it is worth. The main aggregate of their data seems to be visitors to their exclusive sites. 160 million is not that large of a number compared to the total number of desktops machines out there. They do not include servers, so nix the apache servers running on *nix in these numbers.

[NYbill]

ah, that makes more sense, dann. i misunderstood the link. the "This report has been reviewed by Quality Assurance" at the bottom, and the name of the site, gave me the feel that they where gathering OS statistics on net activity at large.

[eddie]

I contacted them about the page. I have yet to get an answer. "Quality assurance" sounds like Microsoft rhetoric.