lordshipmayhem

Microsoft's Windows 7 Is a Threat to Linux - But Watch Out for Google

Windows is no threat to the Linux desktop: being open source, there's no one single company behind it to go bankrupt and fail, orphaning the operating system. Instead there are not only lots of companies of every size but lots of foundations as well. This fundamental misunderstanding of the economic nature of Linux is what keeps these excited "reporters" breathlessly reporting the imminent demise of Linux.

As long as you continue to want to use Linux, it will continue to be available for you to use.

OS Survey Results: Microsoft Can Breathe Easy As Linux Levels Off

The problem I have with sales-based surveys of this sort is that the nature of open-source means a lot of activity cannot be captured. Servers sold without operating systems (with Linux installed by the purchaser) and older servers converted from Windows or Unix to Linux are not counted as new Linux installations.

Plus, absolute dollar value of purchases is skewed by the fact that the Linux OS itself is free while there is a fee to obtaining the Windows licence and much of the ancillary closed-source applications required for administering the server. Therefore, you are comparing hardware cost for Linux vs. hardware cost & licence fees for Windows.

As the IT departments of more and more companies (especially, but not limited to, the Fortune 500) become comfortable with configuring Linux servers in-house and buy their servers OS-free, I expect a drop in Linux "revenue". This will make the sales surveys even less accurate and even less meaningful in terms of a comparison of Windows vs. Linux server uptake.