maybe Linux needs more hired shills
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick Oct 27, 2007 9:11 AM EDT |
Then the slant of articles like these would not be "Windows wins because customers are spending way more money on it!" but "Linux wins because customers are saving truckloads of cash!" |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 27, 2007 11:02 AM EDT |
But.... who would pay me? |
| helios Oct 27, 2007 12:49 PM EDT |
I recently worked for a firm that provided 1-5 tier tech support for various ISP's across the country. Unfortunately, every work station in every techie's cube was running XP...it would be a simple step-over assumption to think that the server room would smell suspiciously like Windozed IIS. Nope...this corporation ran pure Debian servers from top to bottom. I had a chance to speak with the lead hardware and software engineers on several occasions and since we speak the same language the topic always ended up with Tux standing there as a mutual friend. There is not one byte of Microsoft server code in that entire operation. The server software was installed by local talent on machines, for the most part, that had once ran Windows server craep. So the question is only extended...not answered. How many thousands of small and medium businesses go about their business with Linux servers quietly doing their job? We won't ever know for sure...but one thing is certain... For Microsoft to claim that they have captured the server market again is a sure indication that they have solid but confidential figures to the contrary. h |
| dinotrac Oct 28, 2007 3:29 AM EDT |
Ken - One thing I wonder about. First, market "share" is an interesting number. If you grow, but the market grows faster, your "share" will decrease. I have noticed an real uptake in desktop Mac use. I see people showing off their Powerbooks and you'd be amazed at how often my nosy little ears hear things like "I gave up on Windows", etc. My partner and I have a very fine HP Ubuntu server that came our way because it started out life as a Windows 2003 server for a small manufacturing company who got so frustrated that he pulled the plug, replaced it with a Mac server, and sent the old box to us just to get it out of his sight. I find it impossible to believe that Windows is winning anything except numbers. They ain't winning hearts, that's for sure. That should concern them because numbers change. |
| jdixon Oct 28, 2007 6:28 AM EDT |
OK, first point. As a general rule, businesses buy servers, not individuals. Individuals buy desktops, which may be used as servers, but won't show up in the figures. Second point. Business use of Linux has come of age. Businesses have realized that they can support Linux in house, and don't really need those expensive support contracts except for mission critical applications. If they do need support, they're going to deal directly with the distributor or their existing support structure; not buy it from a vendor. They've also realized that they don't necessarily need to buy that expensive server they needed with Windows. They can use an older existing server or a higher end desktop machine and it will run Linux with no problems. Result: Decreased sales of Linux servers from vendors. Not decreased use; merely decreased sales. I haven't seen this first hand, as the company I work for is relatively Linux hostile, but it's my guess as to what's happening. |
| dinotrac Oct 28, 2007 8:37 AM EDT |
jdixon - I used to work (sigh) at a place that was moving to Linux. They did it both ways -- buying Linux preinstalled on servers, and moving Linux onto existing servers. From the economics standpoint, paying for support isn't as big a deal as you think because corporations always pay for support. They can pay Red Hat or they can pay their own people, but they will pay somebody. |
| jdixon Oct 28, 2007 4:57 PM EDT |
> They can pay Red Hat or they can pay their own people, but they will pay somebody. I agree. However, most larger companies already have an IT staff which can handle most support issues, so they're already paying their own people, whether they realize it or not. |
| dinotrac Oct 29, 2007 12:58 AM EDT |
>so they're already paying their own people, whether they realize it or not. They absolutely realize it, down to the penny, just as they do when they choose to buy their servers from a vendor rather than assemble them. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 29, 2007 9:26 AM EDT |
Wouldn't a better way of measuring server share be some kind of application that connects to all the Web servers out there and finds out that way whether they are running Windows, Linux, BSD or what have you? Whenever I go to a bad URL on a given domain, I get that Apache screen that contains all this information. So it's right there to be found. |
| dinotrac Oct 29, 2007 9:29 AM EDT |
>Wouldn't a better way of measuring server share No. That would actually be worse because web servers are only one kind of server. Worse, web servers are dominated by Apache and most of those apaches are running on a flavor of *x. In short, that would deliver a different bias. It's a bias we might like, but certainly no better as a measure of the truth. |
| jdixon Oct 29, 2007 9:29 AM EDT |
> ...some kind of application that connects to all the Web servers... That only works for servers running an http service and facing the web. That's only a small subset of servers. |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 29, 2007 9:47 AM EDT |
> That's only a small subset of servers. One place I worked had their one outside web server, but a dozen redundant RedHat systems ganged together doing financial transaction processing. It also didn't count the 5 or so Linux desktop machines in the office. So yeah, visible servers are not a reliable count. Heck, the 5 Linux systems here at home wouldn't be counted at all. |
| Abe Oct 29, 2007 10:14 AM EDT |
For the sake of accuracy, how about an open source "Linux call home" program!
It would be developed, supported, maintained, and signed by The Linux Foundation. Users launch it at their discretion. Users select & decide what hardware can be used by program to generates a unique checksum from various hardware information. Users see data being collected. User decides to send or not to send information. Problem solved. |
| jdixon Oct 29, 2007 10:34 AM EDT |
> ...how about an open source "Linux call home" program! A couple of distros (I believe Debian is one of them) have such a program. Slackware includes a link to the Linux Counter in it's welcoming email. |
| Abe Oct 29, 2007 10:42 AM EDT |
Quoting:A couple of distros (I believe Debian is one of them) have such a programDo you know if they released any of their stats? |
| jdixon Oct 29, 2007 10:58 AM EDT |
Abe: Some checking revealed that what I was remembering from Debian is actually a package popularity tracker, not a system tracker, but if you track the popularity of a required package, it should match the number of installed systems fairly closely. However, only people who install the package will be counted. The stats are at: http://popcon.debian.org/ Linspire has a user tracking service, but it doesn't look like they make stats available. You can look at a map presentation of the data at: http://www.lraiser.com/index.html Added: As a publicly traded company, Red Hat's revenues are available. If you take their subscription revenue and divide it by the per system price, you'll come out with a low end figure for the number of active Red Hat systems being supported. |
| Abe Oct 29, 2007 11:39 AM EDT |
Thanks JD. Very nice of you to furnish the links. Now, how about a single source! :) Just kidding. |
| NoDough Oct 29, 2007 1:42 PM EDT |
You can see the web server stats here. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html |
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