The (true?) linux market share

[JC Cheloven]

Hi, most web based analisys I've noticed, state that present linux market share is something between 1.5% to 2.5%. For example this one (http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php) from w3counter.

To my surprise, I've seen that microsoft estimates a similar market share for mac and linux (that should be about 6% each), and that he's more worried about linux than about mac. The info is from this speech (http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bigger_Competitor_than_Apple) of Ballmer to an audience of investors.

So, do you have an oppinion, or further info, about the current linux marketshare? I'd like to know.

[-grubby]

No.

[cityrama]

and that he's more worried about linux than about mac.


That makes business sense seeing as Linux is free and can be installed on virtually any computer and a cheaper option for manufacturers, whereas Mac is generally hardware specific and geared towards the professional designer/musician.

[JC Cheloven]

That makes business sense seeing as Linux is free and can be installed on virtually any computer and a cheaper option for manufacturers, whereas Mac is generally hardware specific and geared towards the professional designer/musician.

Hey your first post, and not in the support sections!! welcome to the forums :KS

[dragos240]

I think the more people know about linux, the more it will grow.

[cityrama]

Hey your first post, and not in the support sections!! welcome to the forums :KS


;)

[JC Cheloven]

I think the more people know about linux, the more it will grow.

Yes, if they can defeat their fear to the unknown. Not everybody is succesful at this... but I try to help in my neighbourhood.

[MasterNetra]

Hi, most web based analisys I've noticed, state that present linux market share is something between 1.5% to 2.5%. For example this one (http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php) from w3counter.

To my surprise, I've seen that microsoft estimates a similar market share for mac and linux (that should be about 6% each), and that he's more worried about linux than about mac. The info is from this speech (http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bigger_Competitor_than_Apple) of Ballmer to an audience of investors.

So, do you have an oppinion, or further info, about the current linux marketshare? I'd like to know.

lol M$ more generous about Linux's Market Share, you would think they would play it off at 0.5%

[dragos240]

Yes, if they can defeat their fear to the unknown. Not everybody is succesful at this... but I try to help in my neighbourhood.

I mean, the more the netbook manufactures know about linux. The more it will grow.

[sudoer541]

Hi, most web based analisys I've noticed, state that present linux market share is something between 1.5% to 2.5%. For example this one (http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php) from w3counter.

To my surprise, I've seen that microsoft estimates a similar market share for mac and linux (that should be about 6% each), and that he's more worried about linux than about mac. The info is from this speech (http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bigger_Competitor_than_Apple) of Ballmer to an audience of investors.

So, do you have an oppinion, or further info, about the current linux marketshare? I'd like to know.


Linux market share is impossible to measure.

[j.bell730]

Because Linux has more market share than Macs do...

Think about all those handheld devices that Linux is installed on. All those devices are taking away from the profits of Microsoft. They should be more worried about Linux, especially with Android / Chrome OS / Palm OS / Moblin / customized Linux varieties found on things like the Archos / etc.

[dragos240]

Because Linux has more market share than Macs do...

Think about all those handheld devices that Linux is installed on. All those devices are taking away from the profits of Microsoft. They should be more worried about Linux, especially with Android / Chrome OS / Palm OS / Moblin / customized Linux varieties found on things like the Archos / etc.

Actually palm OS is from scratch. WebOS is for the pre and uses the linux kernel.

[Bölvaður]

There where at least 2 - 3 threads about it when Ballmer's presentation went onto the net, and there used to be always a thread about market share 2 years ago here in the café, that means there must have been very large threads or many many threads, the later is the correct answer.

I already addressed why Linux was put in greater or equal market share to Apple. The reason are of course corporate users. There are way more Linux clients and servers (not for internet service) in big corporations without the customers ever seeing it and the staff not knowing what it is. Those computers do not connect to the internet.
Linux is everywhere.

[FuturePilot]

Linux market share is impossible to measure.

/thread

[inobe]

i want fair treatment for linux, i don't care much on how much shares we have, an equal !

to clarify' i'm sick and tired of looking at system requirements that only reveal mac and windows...

i think this is far more important.

some will say market share is the bringer to equality but as far as i'm concerned it's ignorance, greed, their nobody, i don't care mentality.

i am speaking about hardware and software vendors.

an abundance of these vendors are proprietary so there must be some biased on their behalf.

[JDShu]

Linux market share is impossible to measure.

Doesn't stop us from trying though!

Sites like w3counter are interesting,but you have to keep in mind what they are measuring, exactly.

[sudoer541]

Doesn't stop us from trying though!

Sites like w3counter are interesting,but you have to keep in mind what they are measuring, exactly.

the only way we can try is something similar windows activation "without activation and restriciotns" it sends your info to the company who produced the OS. However people are scared to death because of supposedly "privacy invasions" if people are concerned about thier "privacy" then they should hide their IP and MAC address. People hate software that invades their privacy and they also hate that this idea is used by Microsoft (evil 666)and they dont want to have that in Linux even if its completely different from Microsoft's counterpart.
I did lots of research about this topic and some users suggest something similar to my idea.
If Linux had an accurate market share. Imagine most games being ported to Linux. Imagine more software from different vendors. Imagine more hardware compatibility (the cute penguin sticker on computers and other hardware)
If Mark Shuttleworth wants to compete against Apple, without accurate market share he will not succeed. Market share plays an important role in the computing world. Some people might disagree with this or they might hate me, but this is real life.

[inobe]

Doesn't stop us from trying though!

Sites like w3counter are interesting,but you have to keep in mind what they are measuring, exactly.

i feel it's best left uncounted !

i say this because if this platform were installed on some ones pc' it should be pure "choice" and not "their using it' so i will too.......

first off' i would never push anyone to try it and certainly wouldn't say there are 100 million users to entice the individual.

the user that decides on his/her own is more likely to switch than a convinced user.

you never want to lead someone, these users have a higher failure rate.

in most cases it'll backfire and cause unwanted bias ans meaningless comments, for some a loss in friendship.

my reasoning may be eye raising however it's worked well as is and some things are best left alone.

no offence intended to the offended.

[sudoer541]

One more thing!

How does Mozilla measure its market share? They do a great job doing it. Firefox is about 30%+

To those who are concerned about privacy: Mozilla invades your privacy when you search on Firefox's Google built in search engine.

If ubuntu learned from Mozilla then ubuntu will succeed towards the average user.

[cprofitt]

The real question is how many Macs end up running Windows or Linux?

[hoppipolla]

Haha yay! And I KNEW Linux's market share had to be bigger than like 1%! It always feels more popular than that to me...

It's all up from here ^_^

[3rdalbum]

Microsoft is more worried about Linux, because it's MUCH quicker, easier and cheaper to switch to Linux than it is to switch to Mac OS.

And they figure that the "average users" who didn't like Vista will also dislike Windows 7.

[sudoer541]

The real question is how many Macs end up running Windows or Linux?
true! but I guess it does not matter since they cant "uncount" it

[hoppipolla]

One more thing!

How does Mozilla measure its market share? They do a great job doing it. Firefox is about 30%+

To those who are concerned about privacy: Mozilla invades your privacy when you search on Firefox's Google built in search engine.

If ubuntu learned from Mozilla then ubuntu will succeed towards the average user.

I wonder how Ubuntu could push it's name out there more. Have there been TV ads? I wonder if there will be ^_^

Maybe grassroots promotion! ^_^

[hoppipolla]

Oh and as another point, I think that a more mature Ubuntu or similar Linux-based OS with a later incarnation of KDE 4 on the desktop could be a serious, serious competitor to Windows.

[sudoer541]

I wonder how Ubuntu could push it's name out there more. Have there been TV ads? I wonder if there will be ^_^

Maybe grassroots promotion! ^_^
What about the Mozilla way?
Mozilla did not advertise Firefox on TV right? Now look at FF= 30% market share.
Please explain.

[Groucho Marxist]

I wonder how Ubuntu could push it's name out there more. Have there been TV ads? I wonder if there will be ^_^

Maybe grassroots promotion! ^_^

Grassroots promotion, perhaps, as long as the events are professionally organized; i.e. people with experience in mass communications, civic groups or activism in general are involved from start to finish. If we are going to "sell" the image of Linux to the public, we should coordinate with one and other to create something truly memorable for the world at-large.

[cdwillis]

the only way we can try is something similar windows activation "without activation and restriciotns" it sends your info to the company who produced the OS. However people are scared to death because of supposedly "privacy invasions" if people are concerned about thier "privacy" then they should hide their IP and MAC address. People hate software that invades their privacy and they also hate that this idea is used by Microsoft (evil 666)and they dont want to have that in Linux even if its completely different from Microsoft's counterpart.
I did lots of research about this topic and some users suggest something similar to my idea.
If Linux had an accurate market share. Imagine most games being ported to Linux. Imagine more software from different vendors. Imagine more hardware compatibility (the cute penguin sticker on computers and other hardware)
If Mark Shuttleworth wants to compete against Apple, without accurate market share he will not succeed. Market share plays an important role in the computing world. Some people might disagree with this or they might hate me, but this is real life.

I've been thinking about the same thing since I started using Linux early last year. I think the Ubuntu installer should include an optional registration pop up after the network configuration with the explanation that registering as a linux user will help count marketshare and entice companies for more hardware support. It would add you to an (anonymous) user database and could sign you up for a mailing list notifying you of Ubuntu news and upcoming releases.

[MasterNetra]

What about the Mozilla way?
Mozilla did not advertise Firefox on TV right? Now look at FF= 30% market share.
Please explain.

Mozilla Firefox is Netscape redesigned essentially. Firefox > Netscape for sure.

[cdwillis]

What about the Mozilla way?
Mozilla did not advertise Firefox on TV right? Now look at FF= 30% market share.
Please explain.

I guess we do have the live CD now, but it's a lot easier for someone to download a different web browser than to install a new operating system.

[JDShu]

If Linux had an accurate market share. Imagine most games being ported to Linux. Imagine more software from different vendors. Imagine more hardware compatibility (the cute penguin sticker on computers and other hardware)


Knowing the accurate "market share" is probably sufficient, but I don't think it is necessarily. With free markets, we vote with our wallets. If Linux users bought more Linux product (Linux pre-installed computers, Linux compatible hardware etc.) then companies will naturally provide better Linux support themselves. What I'm getting at is that companies will provide their products based on projected revenue.


i feel it's best left uncounted !

i say this because if this platform were installed on some ones pc' it should be pure "choice" and not "their using it' so i will too.......

first off' i would never push anyone to try it and certainly wouldn't say there are 100 million users to entice the individual.

the user that decides on his/her own is more likely to switch than a convinced user.

you never want to lead someone, these users have a higher failure rate.

in most cases it'll backfire and cause unwanted bias ans meaningless comments, for some a loss in friendship.

my reasoning may be eye raising however it's worked well as is and some things are best left alone.

no offence intended to the offended.

Just because we had more information and some people might use it for dishonest/misguided means doesn't mean that we shouldn't still try to obtain that information. Knowledge is power!

The point is of course moot, because as quoted, it is for now impossible to know the true market share.

As an aside, we're defining market share as the desktop usage of each operating system both on and offline as a fraction of the total number of PCs used, yes? As we all know, the traditional definition of market share doesn't make sense here.

[hoppipolla]

I guess we do have the live CD now, but it's a lot easier for someone to download a different web browser than to install a new operating system.

Very true.

Also, Firefox was CLEARLY better than IE, for all intents and purposes. Ubuntu has both advantages and disadvantages :)

[sudoer541]

Mozilla Firefox is Netscape redesigned essentially. Firefox > Netscape for sure.

yes but it is still an open souce project and its developed/ sponsored by Mozilla just like ubuntu is developed/sponsored by canonical. whats the difference?

[sudoer541]

Knowing the accurate "market share" is probably sufficient, but I don't think it is necessarily. With free markets, we vote with our wallets. If Linux users bought more Linux product (Linux pre-installed computers, Linux compatible hardware etc.) then companies will naturally provide better Linux support themselves. What I'm getting at is that companies will provide their products based on projected revenue.

there is a large number of people who dont know what Linux is. there is also a fair number of others who think Linux is hard and its only for hackers, computer enthusiasts, nerds and programmers. I dont belong to any of the categories that I mentioned. I am just an average user just like others. Now back to the firefox topic again.
When Mozilla developed firefox, it was not popular but it slowly started gaining some market share. Mozilla integrated Google search engine into Firefox (thats what made market share statistics more accurate) there are other thing that Mozilla did to firefox but I am sure. So again why cant ubuntu do the same thing as firefox? I do understand that some people are concerned about their privacy, but as soon as you connect to the internet your privacy is not 100% protected.
Please explain:)

[sudoer541]

Very true.

Also, Firefox was CLEARLY better than IE, for all intents and purposes. Ubuntu has both advantages and disadvantages :)

exactly think of ubuntu as firefox.
Ubuntu has advantages and disadvantages, but I am sure if ubuntu goes the market share way its disadvantages will shrink just like firefox's disadvantages. When firefox was new it was not at the stage that is now off course, but because they build marketing software or something like that into firefox it got improved because more people where looking for alternatives.
I myself before I switched to firefox, I saw lots of firefox ads on the internet and people liked it because it was different than Internet Explorer.

[sudoer541]

One more thing!

The Linux/GNU etc developers tried everything and they invented lots of things. Why cant they concentrate on market share. I know it does not mean anything to the advanced users but it matters to us (the average users and intermediate users)
I am confident that this is will happen sooner or later.

Are there any developers here who want to talk about this?

[MasterNetra]

yes but it is still an open souce project and its developed/ sponsored by Mozilla just like ubuntu is developed/sponsored by canonical. whats the difference?

lol I as saying Firefox was greater then Netscape, which is a given sense Netscape was Discontinued and Firefox has come a long way sense. I never connected it to Ubuntu in my post so I never implied there was a differance to begin with. (And was trying to put some form of a semi-answer to your question.)

[j.bell730]

Mozilla advertised in a major newspaper (iirc New York Times), plus they went for the world record for most software downloaded in 24 hours. They have some marketing geniuses.

[sudoer541]

Mozilla advertised in a major newspaper (iirc New York Times), plus they went for the world record for most software downloaded in 24 hours. They have some marketing geniuses.
did this cost them anything? How much? Can ubuntu do this as well?

[j.bell730]

The ad in the New York Times was, I imagine, quite a steep price, as they covered two full pages. The world record attempt was successful, likely because Google helped in advertising the event, but it was otherwise free for Mozilla. Ubuntu could do this if they wanted. I'm quite sure they already advertise on billboards (on the east coast of the US, I think).

[hoppipolla]

The ad in the New York Times was, I imagine, quite a steep price, as they covered two full pages. The world record attempt was successful, likely because Google helped in advertising the event, but it was otherwise free for Mozilla. Ubuntu could do this if they wanted. I'm quite sure they already advertise on billboards (on the east coast of the US, I think).

We may find, we MAY find... that as Ubuntu gets a bit bigger and Linux starts to become a more viable choice... that a slightly more outgoing or even aggressive company and distribution emerges that DOES get out there a bit more and cause a stir.

With Open Source, you really can't tell...

[Frak]

/thread
I'm not sure how there are comments still. What you quoted pretty much sums it up.

[hoppipolla]

I'm not sure how there are comments still. What you quoted pretty much sums it up.

True, but it's interesting nonetheless!

It has become a kind of general discussion about market share and how to increase it... lol

[sudoer541]

Ubuntu is a good quality product.
I think Canonical should ask google to advertise ubuntu, just like Mozilla did with Firefox.
Trust me, there are people who are looking for alternatives. They cant afford a mac because its too expensive and it does not worth it. People dont know about ubuntu.
Does anyone know a free advertising site? A mainstream free advertising site would be great.
I am willing to advertise ubuntu and make it known to the public. Anyone with me?

[hoppipolla]

Ubuntu is a good quality product.
I think Canonical should ask google to advertise ubuntu, just like Mozilla did with Firefox.
Trust me, there are people who are looking for alternatives. They cant afford a mac because its too expensive and it does not worth it. People dont know about ubuntu.
Does anyone know a free advertising site? A mainstream free advertising site would be great.
I am willing to advertise ubuntu and make it known to the public. Anyone with me?

Hehe I LIKE this attitude! This is how grassroots movements start ^_^

As for advertising on Google... yes that may well work... Google are ofc thinking about their own OS at the moment but they are aiming for slightly different markets, and of course their's isn't close to being released yet anyway. It's possible :)

[ukripper]

Time for everyone on forums to spread the word.

Marketing team is doing good job - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Materials

it is in our hands to help them out by using material they supply us.

[sudoer541]

Hehe I LIKE this attitude! This is how grassroots movements start ^_^

As for advertising on Google... yes that may well work... Google are ofc thinking about their own OS at the moment but they are aiming for slightly different markets, and of course their's isn't close to being released yet anyway. It's possible :)

Ok, how can we start this? Any steps involved? Should we inform Canonical? :)
Please advice:P

[JC Cheloven]

Because Linux has more market share than Macs do (...)Think about all those handheld devices that Linux is installed on. (...)

There where at least 2 - 3 threads about it when Ballmer's presentation went onto the net, (...)
I already addressed why Linux was put in greater or equal market share to Apple. The reason are of course corporate users. There are way more Linux clients and servers (not for internet service) in big corporations without the customers ever seeing it and the staff not knowing what it is. Those computers do not connect to the internet. Linux is everywhere.
Thanks for your input. These two posts suggest that MS included "more things" than simply the client OS at regular pc's in their statistics. If so, it seems even scarce to me, as most servers out there are linux based (?)

Microsoft is more worried about Linux, because it's MUCH quicker, easier and cheaper to switch to Linux than it is to switch to Mac OS.
And they figure that the "average users" who didn't like Vista will also dislike Windows 7.
I'd like to agree, but almost everything I read about w7 is (technically) good. It was the contrary with vista. I wonder whether many people will be interested in knowing something different or not, given that they wasn't when using vista.

Knowing the accurate "market share" is probably sufficient, but I don't think it is necessarily. (...)
Perhaps you're right, and things will finally fall due to its own weight, but: in the meanwhile, hardware companies estimate the need of making drivers etc, depending on the OS market share. Hardware support for a 6% m.sh. OS woud be drastically better than for 1% m.sh. (so, if 1% is eventually a big lie, it's harming us)

Ubuntu is a good quality product. (...) I am willing to advertise ubuntu and make it known to the public. Anyone with me?

Time for everyone on forums to spread the word.
Marketing team is doing good job - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Materials
it is in our hands to help them out by using material they supply us.

"Me with you": I have a personal commitment: everyone knowing me, will know about free software and my opinion on this. No preaching, but if someone is interested (often is), I'll help him/her in the transition to ubuntu, for as many time as needed.
I think it's the better thing I can do to support foss.

@ukripper: Many thanks! Added to my personal commitment, and also to my signature :KS

[JC Cheloven]

I forgot: I wouldn't like linux to be greater than 7-10% on the desktop. Sufficient for a great hardware support, but (hopefully) small enough to keep some of a sense of community, as we have today.

[hoppipolla]

I forgot: I wouldn't like linux to be greater than 7-10% on the desktop. Sufficient for a great hardware support, but (hopefully) small enough to keep some of a sense of community, as we have today.

There are definitely two camps on this one :)

Personally, I would love to see the market share increase :)

[sudoer541]

Are there any developers here?
Maybe they can pass this to Canonical and other Linuxes?
I think the market share idea will be perfect when Ubuntu 10.04 is ready.
Can someone help us?

[sudoer541]

I think that the developers should pay attention to this as well. I think it will be very beneficial for the future. Can someone pass it on?

[Frak]

Ubuntu is a good quality product.
I think Canonical should ask google to advertise ubuntu, just like Mozilla did with Firefox.
Trust me, there are people who are looking for alternatives. They cant afford a mac because its too expensive and it does not worth it. People dont know about ubuntu.
Does anyone know a free advertising site? A mainstream free advertising site would be great.
I am willing to advertise ubuntu and make it known to the public. Anyone with me?
Google wouldn't do it for a couple of reasons.
1. Google is focused on their own OS.
2. Google doesn't want to (seemingly) betray their customers. If people go to Google, find Ubuntu, install Ubuntu, and then hate Ubuntu because they can't go back to Windows, Google will have failed their customers.

[billdotson]

Linux market share is likely higher than estimated. There are a lot of people that use Linux and Windows, including businesses. Perhaps that 2.5% market share is for linux only. Could be wrong though. Ideally what I would like to see is an even split between Windows, OS X, BSD and Linux (and maybe open solaris). That way (hopefully) everyone would have an equal choice as to what they used as it would be harder for developers to make a popular commercial program only for one of those OSes. With "cloud" computing the market share will probably become less relevant in the business world. I would imagine sooner or later every business person will have a really cheap thin client and run all the stuff off the company's servers. For home desktop use the market share is still going to matter.

The best way to increase Linux's market share is to work really hard on an office suite (let's go ahead and use openoffice since it is already available) so that it doesn't feel like a downgrade if someone switches from office 2007 to openoffice. The spreadsheet program needs more than 65000 rows is just one example of where OO lacks. Work on an enterprise replacement for outlook too. I'd say if you freed people from having to use MS office there might not be many other things they still need Windows for.
I don't know what is more important, Linux on the desktop or for businesses. I have heard somewhere before that big companies often have their own brand of Unix they use so maybe the desktop (and mobile devices) is where Linux really needs to concentrate on.

[Khakilang]

Are you talking about world market or is it just America alone. If its world market share, I think it hard to follow cos you have to take into account of pirated copies which may influence the numbers. But for Linux the figure maybe true cos there is no pirated issue here. But don't know about Mac.

[sudoer541]

what I am saying is, we should do something about it such as pass this topic to developers and companies such as redhat, canonical and others. I know its hard but if you dont try hard you wont succeed right? I know other companies have their own version of linux and thats fine. I think if Linux had an accurate market share people would know Linux. As you may know people love the word "FREE" and The Linux philosophy is perfect for them and it would attract a large number of people. I mean hey it even attracted me. Before I started with Ubuntu I was always looking for free alternatives of the main commercial software out there. I think All linux distros would benefit from this.

I did lots of research for this topic! and its not that hard. I know you cant count Linux because its free and its installed on many PCs. But how about if you had a software that tracks and sends your hardware info to redhat or canonical? what I mean is a hardware profile software. It would automatically collect and send your hardware info as soon as you install the distro of your choice. I know some people are concerned about their privacy. But the software would not get your personal info. Plus, as soon as you connect to the internet your privacy is not protected even if you try to hide your IP address, then there is your MAC address. If you try to change your MAC address then it considered ILLEGAL. . So there is no reason to be self protective since you cant protect your privacy no matter what you do (unless if you dont connect to the internet).
market share may not be important to you, but it will be very beneficial to all Linuxes. Those who want Linux to succeed, thats the best way.
I read that some people here hand out ubuntu CDs and thats good, however if you could help with Linux's market share then people would come to you and ask you for an ubuntu CD without you having to beg them to try it etc.


So again, Can I please have your support to spread this to developers and companies?
I may not have the brains to program software but I have the brains to suggest ideas to help out.
I think the original poster of this thread inspired/encouraged me, and now I am willing to help with market share. Although before I didnt care about market share, but now I understand the benefits of it.

Your support is GREATLY appreciated!

[Frak]

what I am saying is, we should do something about it such as pass this topic to developers and companies such as redhat, canonical and others. I know its hard but if you dont try hard you wont succeed right? I know other companies have their own version of linux and thats fine. I think if Linux had an accurate market share people would know Linux. As you may know people love the word "FREE" and The Linux philosophy is perfect for them and it would attract a large number of people. I mean hey it even attracted me. Before I started with Ubuntu I was always looking for free alternatives of the main commercial software out there. I think All linux distros would benefit from this.

I did lots of research for this topic! and its not that hard. I know you cant count Linux because its free and its installed on many PCs. But how about if you had a software that tracks and sends your hardware info to redhat or canonical? what I mean is a hardware profile software. It would automatically collect and send your hardware info as soon as you install the distro of your choice. I know some people are concerned about their privacy. But the software would not get your personal info. Plus, as soon as you connect to the internet your privacy is not protected even if you try to hide your IP address, then there is your MAC address. If you try to change your MAC address then it considered ILLEGAL. . So there is no reason to be self protective since you cant protect your privacy no matter what you do (unless if you dont connect to the internet).
market share may not be important to you, but it will be very beneficial to all Linuxes. Those who want Linux to succeed, thats the best way.
I read that some people here hand out ubuntu CDs and thats good, however if you could help with Linux's market share then people would come to you and ask you for an ubuntu CD without you having to beg them to try it etc.


So again, Can I please have your support to spread this to developers and companies?
I may not have the brains to program software but I have the brains to suggest ideas to help out.
I think the original poster of this thread inspired/encouraged me, and now I am willing to help with market share. Although before I didnt care about market share, but now I understand the benefits of it.

Your support is GREATLY appreciated!
If any Linux distribution ever did that, forcefully, consider the number of users to drop considerably.

[sudoer541]

If any Linux distribution ever did that, forcefully, consider the number of users to drop considerably.

why? can you please explain?

[cdwillis]

why? can you please explain?

Because it sounds like spyware built into the operating system. If you're going to do something like that it should be optional and at the very least it should inform you that your information is being used.