For a theoretically free operating system, Linux is — and will continue to be — a cash cow, a research firm said Wednesday as it predicted the OS will bring in more than $35 billion in revenues by 2008. Framingham, Mass.-based IDC said that overall revenue for servers, desktops, and packaged software running on Linux will reach $35.7 billion in the next four years. Currently, IDC pegs Linux’s global total take at just under $15 billion.
not bad , not bad at all
This just shows that Linux can be and is a profitable market, companies just need to take advantage of it and deploy Linux on a wider scale. 🙂
It just came to my mind how stupid it was to call the whole thing “free software”… probably Stallman’s #1 mistake!
Should we really take this kind of study seriously ? Why not consult psychics instead ? At least, with mediums and astrologers, we know we’re being had. Too bad the OSDL bought this whole nonsense.
However, I think it’s great news that the market is in fact growing, Linux will be a massive commercial success and that is great news for everyone.
why not. free doesnt necessarily mean just gratis…
huh? Of course not. It’s about freedom, not price. That’s just why I think “free” is a bad term, because it’s misleading.
reminds me of their itanuim forecast of ~$14bn for this year.
they were $13.4bn wrong…
“huh? Of course not. It’s about freedom, not price. That’s just why I think “free” is a bad term, because it’s misleading.
”
come up with a non misleading term then and yes open source can be misleading too
“. Maybe when Longhorn is released we will see the Linux hype die down?”
you mean the shorthorn where there are continuing to pull stuff off to meet their projected deadlines?
you want the longhorn hype to overcome the linux growth?. thats ridiculous
This is the same IDC that predicted $30Bn in Itanium Server Sales by the end of 2001, and now says it may reach $7Bn by 2007. Their estimates of way off!!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/18/ibm_plots_idc_mistakes/
Changing the name from ‘free’ to ‘Liberty’ software is a better idea.
Then get a group of rich people to burn copies of MS Office while chanting “Give us Open Source or give us death!”
You know the rest….
What do you mean by this? What kind of restrictions could they have?
BSD advertisement clause, the new XFree86 license … or the graphviz license (look at it’s “GRANT OF RIGHTS TO AT&T” clause). GPL has all the right kind of restrictions
group of rich people to burn copies of MS Office
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030406 ?
I personally have now migrated four clients in the last 6 months to MS SBS2003. Two of which were happy Linux users for 4 years as a basic File Server, Two which had only a peer type network. The two linux servers had come to me for administration and were using Outlook extensively in-house but had their Exchange hosted by 3rd party while they ran linux as a server.
The only place left for Linux is on the desktops of grunted MS bashers OR for webserving duties where it shines. But so does BSD, Solaris, etc. Plus Solaris going free will be a HUGE blow to linux if you ask me. I already have benchmarked Solaris 10 faster for FTP over its predecessors and Linux 2.6. Plus this is with Sol10 still in beta of sorts (most stable ‘beta’ product I think I ever tried). With Solaris being free, I and I am sure a whole slew of experienced business minded IT guys would choose Solaris everytime over Linux. It really doesn’t make sense NOT to.
eE
“Changing the name from ‘free’ to ‘Liberty’ software is a better idea.”
Not a bad idea, but when ever I hear the word ‘liberty’ or ‘freedom’ I get a bad deja vu of certain american facist dictator abusing these words.
Back to reality…
why not. free doesnt necessarily mean just gratis…
This will be argued forever is seems. The thing that makes it a poor choice of words is that freedom is something that is possessed. Software is not capable of possessing freedom. You made say that the people using it are more free, but the software itself is not. Therefore, you cannot properly call it “free software” in the same way you would refer to, say, a “free man.”
If it were called “98% bullsh!t free software” would this be enough? Free as in “free of encumbrances?” Free as in “feel free to STFU about software you don’t even use?” Free as in “One free with the purchase of a happy meal?”
Free
adj 1: able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint; “free enterprise”; “a free port”; “a free country”; “I have an hour free”; “free will”; “free of racism”; “feel free to stay as long as you wish”; “a free choice” [ant: unfree] 2: unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion; “free expansion”; “free oxygen”; “a free electron” [ant: bound] 3: costing nothing; “complimentary tickets” [syn: complimentary, costless, gratis(p), gratuitous] 4: not occupied or in use; “a free locker”; “a free lane” 5: not fixed in position; “the detached shutter fell on him”; “he pulled his arm free and ran” [syn: detached] 6: not held in servitude; “after the Civil War he was a free man” [ant: slave(a)] 7: not taken up by scheduled activities; “a free hour between classes”; “spare time on my hands” [syn: spare] 8: not literal; “a loose interpretation of what she had been told”; “a free translation of the poem” [syn: loose, liberal] n : people who are free; “the home of the free and the brave” [syn: free people] adv : without restraint; “cows in India are running loose” [syn: loose] v 1: grant freedom to; free from confinement [syn: liberate, release, unloose, unloosen, loose] [ant: confine] 2: relieve from; “Rid the the house of pests” [syn: rid, disembarrass] 3: remove or force out from a position; “The dentist dislodged the piece of food that had been stuck under my gums”; “He finally could free the legs of the earthquake victim who was buried in the rubble” [syn: dislodge] [ant: lodge] 4: grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to; “She exempted me from the exam” [syn: exempt, relieve] [ant: enforce] 5: make (information) available publication; “release the list with the names of the prisoners” [syn: release] 6: free from obligations or duties [syn: discharge] 7: free or remove obstruction from; “free a path across the cluttered floor” [syn: disengage] [ant: obstruct] 8: let off the hook; “I absolve you from this responsibility” [syn: absolve, justify] [ant: blame] 9: part with a possession or right; “I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest”; “resign a claim to the throne” [syn: release, relinquish, resign, give up] 10: make (assets) available; “release the holdings in the dictator’s bank account” [syn: unblock, unfreeze, release] [ant: freeze]
Maybe the sophists among us could start talking about the nature of free “as in freedom” will as it compares to free “as in beer” will.
I already have benchmarked Solaris 10 faster for FTP over its predecessors and Linux 2.6.
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how exactly did you benchmark 2.6 linux kernel against solaris beta builds of an operating system?
“This will be argued forever is seems. The thing that makes it a poor choice of words is that freedom is something that is possessed. ”
oh ya. less restrictions means more freedom. not necessarily something we active possess as an object but a property to cherish…
You probably shouldn’t feed the random trolls Microsoft sends here on occasion.