Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 22nd Jan 2013 21:28 UTC, submitted by lemur2
"If you consider NetApplications' data set, then Linux owns only about 1 percent of the desktop OS market and Windows has almost 92 percent. But if you consider all computing platforms, including mobile, than Windows has only 20 percent and Linux has 42 percent - and that would be in the form of Google's Android alone." No more or less legitimate than claiming Windows owns 92% of the market. It's all a matter of perspective.
Thread beginning with comment 549965
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-01-25
Except Linux is a kernel not an Operating System. Ubuntu/Debian/Red Hat, etc. are Operating Systems and are not the same thing as Android. The various other embedded devices that are based on the Linux kernel are their own unique Operating Systems. Trying to lump them all together is ludicrous at best.
Unless you are trying to measure the marketshare of Linux... Which as you quite clearly pointed out, is a kernel and not an Operating System. So how do you measure the marketshare of a kernel? You count all the Operating Systems using it...
Do you consider statistics of marketshare by browser engine "ludicrous"? Knowing the total number of browsers using WebKit is far from useless information... Same exact thing.
Edited 2013-01-23 02:03 UTC
Member since:2007-05-05
Unless you are trying to measure the marketshare of Linux... Which as you quite clearly pointed out, is a kernel and not an Operating System. So how do you measure the marketshare of a kernel? You count all the Operating Systems using it...
Do you consider statistics of marketshare by browser engine "ludicrous"? Knowing the total number of browsers using WebKit is far from useless information... Same exact thing.
But that is comparing marketshare of an OS vs a kernel. Apples vs oranges. Doesn't make any sense.
When someone says Linux they're implying it is a Operating System which it is not. Android uses the Linux kernel but it is NOT a Linux "distribution" or what is really an Operating System.
No, I don't consider it ludicrous. But when measuring marketshare like that it is quite clear that they're referring to the engine or the browser and not spinning the numbers to mean something they're not. Browser marketshare is measured for each browser as in Chrome / Safari, etc. not WebKit even though they're all using WebKit.
Member since:2007-02-17
Except Linux is a kernel not an Operating System. Ubuntu/Debian/Red Hat, etc. are Operating Systems and are not the same thing as Android. The various other embedded devices that are based on the Linux kernel are their own unique Operating Systems. Trying to lump them all together is ludicrous at best. There are hundreds of Operating Systems which are referred to as "distributions" based on the Linux kernel.
Linux (the kernel) and GNU/Linux (the operating system) Has over 90% of the supercomputer OS market share.
http://www.unixmen.com/linux-share-in-supercomputer-os/
Linux accounts for as much as 94.2% share as Supercomputer OS!
Linux has a near-monopoly in embedded devices, such as TVs, DVD players and the like:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linuxuniversal/
Linux is dominant in the server market (60%) and also the cluster and distributed computing market (66%).
Linux is dominant in every market except the desktop. None of these operating systems are the same (as complete operating systems) ... the machines involved in these markets are nowhere near as homogenous as the desktop market.
Nevertheless, a significant majority of the world's computers run Linux. Globally, over all computers, as a rough estimate Linux would run on over 65% of machines.
The fact that the OSes running are different on different machines does not mean that we cannot make this statement.
Member since:2005-11-29
Member since:2007-05-05
Member since:2009-08-21
Except Linux is a kernel not an Operating System. [...]
Trying to lump them all together is ludicrous at best. There are hundreds of Operating Systems which are referred to as "distributions" based on the Linux kernel.
Trying to lump them all together is ludicrous at best. There are hundreds of Operating Systems which are referred to as "distributions" based on the Linux kernel.
So what about Windows CE vs Windows NT, which don't even share a kernel?
RE[2]: Linux is a kernel
by henderson101 on Wed 23rd Jan 2013 17:32
in reply to "RE: Linux is a kernel"
Member since:2006-05-30
Let's be honest here - is Windows 95 really Windows? It doesn't use the NT kernel. It uses a similar API, but the actual underlying code base is not the same. Is Win 3.1 Windows? Same. Is Windows CE Windows? Again, same deal - however the kernel was implemented, the programming interface is extremely identical. Porting code to CE is more about the fact the device is lacking specific hardware one might expect in a full desktop, rather than anything overly dramatic.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2007-05-05
Except Linux is a kernel not an Operating System. Ubuntu/Debian/Red Hat, etc. are Operating Systems and are not the same thing as Android. The various other embedded devices that are based on the Linux kernel are their own unique Operating Systems. Trying to lump them all together is ludicrous at best. There are hundreds of Operating Systems which are referred to as "distributions" based on the Linux kernel.