Red Hat Fedora Claims It's the Leader in Linux

[Dragonbite]

Red Hat's Fedora community Linux distribution has now tallied its user base, and it's a number that on the surface would make it the largest installed base of any Linux distribution, with at least 9.5 million users and possibly as many as 10.5 million. Fedora competitor Ubuntu Linux currently claims to have 8 million users.

http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3786726

[billgoldberg]

The way they calculated their user base is not acceptable.

But then, even if they are, I don't care.

[DoctorMO]

1 billion computer users and the top distro has 10 million of those? Seems rather small.

I bet ubuntu has more than the 8 million users claimed by Canonical. Mostly because of multiple computers on the same networks and lots of users using alternative mirrors for updates.

Either way it's a distraction. It's not numbers of users. It's solving the problems to hand that will make Ubuntu (or Fedora) more useful to users. It's far too easy to get all tribal about distros. But that time isn't yet, we have too much to do for bug #1.

[Guilden_NL]

The way they calculated their user base is not acceptable.

But then, even if they are, I don't care.

I agree with you, the methodology is a joke. I am not discounting their position, but using IP addresses is just plain stupid.

From my 10+ years of using Linux, I saw many Red Hat users in the late 90's, Then saw many move to SUSE around 2002 or so. Of course, many distros now, but Ubuntu seems to be at the top for desktop with SUSE a close second.

Servers; Red Hat Enterprise hands down.

[rudihawk]

Using IP's is a stupid way to do it. I say this because here in SA normal home users cannot get a static IP, every time we logon to the web we are assigned a new IP, and even with ADSL the network is reset every 24hours :( so its cases this that make it laughable.

Still, numbers are irrelevant.

[halovivek]

They cannot calculate like that. it is not possible like that.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Err, may I be the first to make a positive sound? Good for Fedora! They totally deserve that, since the Fedora project is almost single-handedly pushing desktop Linux forwards. Their work on new technologies benefits Ubuntu every release, and they are very good at contributing directly to upstream code.

Whether it's calculated precisely or not, they deserve that user base, because they are the ones who keep things moving and I have faith they will continue to do so in the future. (Largely because Red Hat, their corporate sponsor, is profitable at this point in time).

Not that there is any shame in Ubuntu, or Canonical, but it would be absolutely completely disrespectful, shameful and nasty to not welcome what Fedora has achieved for us :)

[koenn]

Sounds like the guys at Fedora understand the consequences of their methodology :)

The counting methodology has the potential to overcount the same machine if the box has a dynamic IP address that could change over time.

At the same time, the current counting methodology could also be leaving out a significant number of machines: A single unique IP address could be in front of many physical machines, ...

"So for everyone hopping addresses, there are probably some machines we're not counting because they are all coming from a single IP address," Frields said.



Anyone have any idea how Canonical counted the 8 million Ubuntu users, if not by IP addresses talking to repos or downloading iso's ?

[Simian Man]

Even if Fedora isn't leading Linux in terms of number of installations (which would be impossible for anybody to verify), they *are* leading Linux in terms of pushing the technology forward. They consistently roll out new features that later make their way into other distros.

I for one am looking forward to Fedora 10 coming out tomorrow :).

[LowSky]

Just like every poll there is a margin for error.

And why compain about Fedora? Its a good distro, the interface seems much more polished than Ubuntu right out of the box (my opinion), and they have a support system based on a large industry standard. Good for them.

[namegame]

I for one am looking forward to Fedora 10 coming out tomorrow :).

Same here. I'll definitely be downloading an .iso when I get the chance. It might replace Ubuntu as my main OS if things go well.

[wrtpeeps]

The way they calculated their user base is not acceptable.

But then, even if they are, I don't care.

Yes it is.

[Simian Man]

Same here. I'll definitely be downloading an .iso when I get the chance. It might replace Ubuntu as my main OS if things go well.

Yeah I always run the most recent Fedora on my desktop and the most recent Ubuntu on my laptop (because of Ubuntu's great wireless support). I'm excited about the new RPM Fusion and better automated downloading of codecs and such.

BTW I lived in Rock Hill for several years :)

[FuturePilot]

It's all Linux, the more the merrier. :)

[Dragonbite]

Yeah I always run the most recent Fedora on my desktop and the most recent Ubuntu on my laptop (because of Ubuntu's great wireless support). I'm excited about the new RPM Fusion and better automated downloading of codecs and such.

BTW I lived in Rock Hill for several years :)

Do you know if there is an easy way to upgrade from Fedora 9 to Fedora 10 without downloading/burning a CD(DVD)?

[igknighted]

Do you know if there is an easy way to upgrade from Fedora 9 to Fedora 10 without downloading/burning a CD(DVD)?

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/PreUpgrade

[super.rad]

Even if Fedora isn't leading Linux in terms of number of installations (which would be impossible for anybody to verify), they *are* leading Linux in terms of pushing the technology forward. They consistently roll out new features that later make their way into other distros.

I for one am looking forward to Fedora 10 coming out tomorrow :).

I installed Fedora 10 preview yesterday and was really impressed with it. I've never been able to stick with fedora (or any other rpm distro's) but this is definatley staying, packagekit, ext4, plymouth all working perfectly, boots and feels a lot quicker than ubuntu. Well done Fedora devs!

[handy]

I say good on them too, Red Hat has done so much for all Linux users.

Neither Red Hat or Fedora is my prefered style of distro', so what?

All distro's help each other in the end, the more any of them progress the better it is for all of us.