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edmondt
April 1st, 2009, 05:08 PM
Was looking at some stats just now and it is interesting to see how Linux is slowly gaining in popularity.

Any thoughts and ideas on how we can accelerate this gain?




2009 WinXP W2000 Vista W2003 Linux Mac
February 69.0% 1.4% 17.2% 1.6% 4.0% 6.0%
January 69.8% 1.6% 16.5% 1.6% 3.9% 5.8%

2008 WinXP W2000 Win98 Vista W2003 Linux Mac
December 71.4% 1.7% 0.1% 15.6% 1.7% 3.8% 5.3%
November 72.0% 1.8% 0.1% 15.1% 1.6% 3.8% 5.3%
October 72.2% 1.9% 0.2% 14.4% 1.7% 3.8% 5.5%
September 73.3% 2.2% 0.2% 13.2% 1.8% 3.8% 5.2%
August 73.9% 2.4% 0.2% 12.5% 1.9% 3.9% 4.9%
July 74.7% 2.6% 0.2% 11.5% 2.0% 3.9% 4.8%
June 74.6% 2.6% 0.2% 10.0% 1.9% 3.7% 4.8%
May 74.0% 2.9% 0.3% 9.3% 1.8% 3.6% 4.7%
April 73.3% 3.3% 0.5% 8.8% 1.9% 3.7% 4.6%
March 72.7% 3.7% 0.6% 8.5% 1.9% 3.9% 4.4%
February 72.4% 4.0% 0.8% 7.8% 1.8% 3.8% 4.3%
January 73.6% 4.0% 0.8% 7.3% 1.9% 3.6% 4.4%

2007 WinXP W2000 Win98 Vista W2003 Linux Mac
November 73.8% 5.1% 1.0% 6.3% 2.0% 3.3% 3.9%
September 74.3% 5.4% 0.9% 4.5% 2.0% 3.4% 3.9%
July 74.6% 6.0% 0.9% 3.6% 2.0% 3.4% 4.0%
May 75.0% 6.5% 0.9% 2.8% 1.9% 3.4% 3.9%
March 76.0% 7.2% 0.9% 1.9% 1.9% 3.4% 3.8%
January 76.1% 7.7% 1.0% 0.6% 1.9% 3.6% 3.8%

2006 WinXP W2000 Win98 WinNT W2003 Linux Mac
November 74.9% 8.0% 1.0% 0.3% 1.9% 3.5% 3.6%
September 74.6% 9.2% 1.4% 0.3% 2.0% 3.5% 3.6%
July 74.3% 10.1% 1.5% 0.3% 2.0% 3.4% 3.6%
May 74.2% 10.7% 1.6% 0.2% 2.0% 3.4% 3.6%
March 72.9% 11.9% 2.0% 0.3% 1.8% 3.4% 3.5%
January 72.3% 13.1% 2.4% 0.3% 1.7% 3.3% 3.5%

2005 WinXP W2000 Win98 WinNT W2003 Linux Mac
November 71.0% 14.6% 2.7% 0.4% 1.7% 3.3% 3.3%
September 69.2% 15.8% 3.2% 0.5% 1.7% 3.3% 3.1%
July 65.3% 17.7% 3.9% 0.6% 1.6% 3.5% 3.0%
May 64.5% 19.4% 3.9% 0.8% 1.4% 3.3% 2.9%
March 63.1% 20.2% 4.7% 0.9% 1.4% 3.2% 3.0%
January 61.3% 21.6% 5.3% 1.0% 1.2% 3.2% 2.8%

2004 WinXP W2000 Win98 WinNT Win95 Linux Mac
November 59.1% 23.7% 5.6% 1.2% 0.1% 3.1% 2.7%
September 55.9% 26.2% 6.4% 1.5% 0.2% 3.1% 2.6%
July 52.5% 28.4% 7.5% 1.9% 0.2% 3.1% 2.4%
May 51.0% 29.6% 8.2% 2.0% 0.3% 2.9% 2.5%
March 48.0% 31.1% 9.4% 2.4% 0.4% 2.6% 2.4%
January 44.1% 33.6% 10.4% 3.0% 0.4% 2.7% 2.4%

2003 WinXP W2000 Win98 WinNT Win95 Linux Mac
November 42.6% 36.3% 10.9% 3.5% 0.4% 2.6% 2.2%
September 38.0% 37.9% 12.1% 4.1% 0.5% 2.4% 2.0%
July 33.9% 40.6% 12.6% 5.3% 0.6% 2.3% 1.9%
May 31.4% 41.0% 13.9% 5.8% 0.7% 2.2% 1.8%
March 29.1% 41.9% 14.8% 6.6% 0.8% 2.2% 1.8%


Stats from http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

LowSky
April 1st, 2009, 05:15 PM
4% is awesome!

If this is true in 10 years Linux will be on more machines than MAC OS

Sealbhach
April 1st, 2009, 06:15 PM
There is an argument that this website is visited by more tech literate people than the general population, so the data is a little skewed.


.

SonicSteve
April 1st, 2009, 06:19 PM
This is the age old question, and #1 bug listed in Ubuntu. Microsoft has a majority market share, how do we change that.

Personally I think that Linux will gain in popularity as long as it keeps getting better. Marketing genius never hurts either. I'm surprised to this point a marketing genius hasn't come along for Linux.

edmondt
April 1st, 2009, 06:47 PM
This is the age old question, and #1 bug listed in Ubuntu. Microsoft has a majority market share, how do we change that.

Personally I think that Linux will gain in popularity as long as it keeps getting better. Marketing genius never hurts either. I surprised to this point a marketing genius hasn't come along for Linux.

I think improving linux is one thing, marketing is also very important. We need to make linux seem less geeky.

Firefox is a great marketing example, its popularity surges in the past few years due to improvement and ease of use, less is more.

Simian Man
April 1st, 2009, 06:53 PM
The only reason people use w3 schools counters is that it shows Linux as higher than any other counts. This does not reflect the general population. I guarantee you that for home desktops Linux doesn't have more than 2%.

LowSky
April 1st, 2009, 07:11 PM
I think improving linux is one thing, marketing is also very important. We need to make linux seem less geeky.

Firefox is a great marketing example, its popularity surges in the past few years due to improvement and ease of use, less is more.

Exactly the point firefox move from ggeky to well known because of its awesome plugin ability.

Ubuntu has a very similar structure the FF has, in the hole add/remove feature.

What Ubutu needs is a Computer Manufacturer to not only allow people to choose Linux, but to reccomend it. For instance could dell just build an entire line of Ubuntu machines under a new product line, instead of the current approach to sell it on the low end computers.

So Tough
April 1st, 2009, 07:13 PM
Linux has gained in popularity, no question about it.

BGFG
April 1st, 2009, 07:16 PM
Slowly, Quickly, who gives a **** :) We're already at the party! by the time they get here it'll all be idiot proof and the tequila will be finished and we'll have to organize get togethers and irc meetings to figure out how to break our systems.

Kazade
April 1st, 2009, 07:28 PM
Ubuntu's big problem is marketing. What needs to happen is there needs to be actual marketing going on for "Ubuntu" (not "Linux", what end user wants to know about a kernel?).

Word-of-mouth worked for Firefox because it wasn't as big a change. You could install Firefox by double clicking the icon, it was small enough that downloading wasn't a big deal and it ran alongside your other browser without any big change. To install Ubuntu even using Wubi, it's a much bigger deal for Joe Average and they likely won't attempt it. Word of mouth alone won't do it.

The way I see it, the primary way Ubuntu will break Microsoft's monopoly is through Netbooks. Ubuntu needs to run faster, look better, be easier to use, and work better on Netbooks than Windows 7. The general public has a different mindset about Netbooks than they do their desktop PC, they see it as more an appliance than a computer, the OS doesn't matter that much. When Ubuntu has taken the Netbook market, the desktop is a small jump to make.

The secondary way that people will move to Ubuntu (IMO) is when Ubuntu gets proper Wine integration. I mean, auto-running of CD installations, a unified Add/Remove programs for Windows applications, proper file associations in Nautilus, a familiar control panel etc. etc. Remember, it's about applications.

Wine is very nearly there, its development has become less about big structural changes that cause regressions, and more about getting everything working like it does on Windows. I've been watching the Wine project for years, and things are really starting to snowball there. All the big stuff is close to running (Office 2000-2007, Photoshop, .NET 1 and 2 - nearly 3.5, Autocad, DirectX 10). Even IE7 works with some fiddling and people are right now debugging IE8. When users can just install their Windows apps into Ubuntu and it Just Works, then you have a similar situation to Firefox, there's nothing to lose by a migration and so much to gain.

Finally, the still major problem is no-one knows what Ubuntu is. That's why we need traditional, viral marketing. Even if someone pulled a stunt like projected the Ubuntu logo onto the Houses of Parliament, or flash mobbed Liverpool Street Station armed with Ubuntu CDs at least it would get the word out.

P.S. Anyone know where I can find a big projector ;)

Kareeser
April 1st, 2009, 07:32 PM
I'd love to be part of a flash mob in my home city!

Just spend 15 minutes handing out Ubuntu Wubi installs to every single person who happens to be at the university student centre or whatever... that would be hilarious.

Kazade
April 1st, 2009, 07:39 PM
I'd love to be part of a flash mob in my home city!

Just spend 15 minutes handing out Ubuntu Wubi installs to every single person who happens to be at the university student centre or whatever... that would be hilarious.

Seriously, if I thought I could find 1000 people in London up for it, I'd organize it here ;)

Cope57
April 1st, 2009, 07:50 PM
My stats for my site...

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/3923/screenshotsystemstatsre.png

Browsers used.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9815/screenshotbrowsercope57.png

78% of ALL stats are obsolete, even this one.

Even the popularity contest to see which application is the most popular is not accurate, It only reflects on the stats of those that do participate.

Stating that Linux is more popular on one site does not prove anything, it is as useful as conducting a poll on this forum, and asking how many people use Ubuntu.

You would have to collect ALL the stats from all websites to get a more accurate count.
How many with no Internet, use a certain operating system? There is no way to get that information easily either.

What do web servers use? That would be a easier survey.
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2009/03/top1M.png (http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2009/03/15/march_2009_web_server_survey.html)
Hint: most Apache servers use Linux.

Yes, Linux is getting more popular, and as for the stats, it is hard to tell since Linux does not track your every move...

jay404
April 12th, 2009, 07:14 PM
Ubuntu's big problem is marketing. What needs to happen is there needs to be actual marketing going on for "Ubuntu" (not "Linux", what end user wants to know about a kernel?).

Word-of-mouth worked for Firefox because it wasn't as big a change. You could install Firefox by double clicking the icon, it was small enough that downloading wasn't a big deal and it ran alongside your other browser without any big change. To install Ubuntu even using Wubi, it's a much bigger deal for Joe Average and they likely won't attempt it. Word of mouth alone won't do it.

The way I see it, the primary way Ubuntu will break Microsoft's monopoly is through Netbooks. Ubuntu needs to run faster, look better, be easier to use, and work better on Netbooks than Windows 7. The general public has a different mindset about Netbooks than they do their desktop PC, they see it as more an appliance than a computer, the OS doesn't matter that much. When Ubuntu has taken the Netbook market, the desktop is a small jump to make.

The secondary way that people will move to Ubuntu (IMO) is when Ubuntu gets proper Wine integration. I mean, auto-running of CD installations, a unified Add/Remove programs for Windows applications, proper file associations in Nautilus, a familiar control panel etc. etc. Remember, it's about applications.

Wine is very nearly there, its development has become less about big structural changes that cause regressions, and more about getting everything working like it does on Windows. I've been watching the Wine project for years, and things are really starting to snowball there. All the big stuff is close to running (Office 2000-2007, Photoshop, .NET 1 and 2 - nearly 3.5, Autocad, DirectX 10). Even IE7 works with some fiddling and people are right now debugging IE8. When users can just install their Windows apps into Ubuntu and it Just Works, then you have a similar situation to Firefox, there's nothing to lose by a migration and so much to gain.

Finally, the still major problem is no-one knows what Ubuntu is. That's why we need traditional, viral marketing. Even if someone pulled a stunt like projected the Ubuntu logo onto the Houses of Parliament, or flash mobbed Liverpool Street Station armed with Ubuntu CDs at least it would get the word out.

P.S. Anyone know where I can find a big projector ;)


interesting coincidence that you mention flash mobs, as it seems mob is actually promoting ubuntu, check out their 2nd ad from right: http://www.mob.com/browse.php

Methuselah
April 12th, 2009, 07:31 PM
Yeah, it's w3cschools so it may be skewed.
But don't jump on the OP too much because even for *that* site the trend has been toward gradually increasing gnu-linux usage.
It may not even be unreasonable to surmise that gnu-linux usage has increased everywhere though not at the same proportion.