Percent of a number
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| dotmatrix May 12, 2016 12:57 PM EDT |
If there were 300,000,000 PCs sold each year from 2008 to 2015, and about 1.5% of all PC users run Desktop GNU/Linux, how many GNU/Linux Desktop users are there?
$ echo "300000000*8*0.015" | bc
36000000.000
|
| kikinovak May 13, 2016 2:12 AM EDT |
I'm surprised that no one questions these 1.5 %. Where does that figure come from? Market surveys? Web browser statistics? Linux doesn't track its users (except the Red Hat Network and Debian's popularity-contest for packages), so there's no way you can have a reliable figure for that. I'm running a couple hundred Linux machines for various clients (LAN servers, public servers, desktop clients, workstations), running mostly Slackware, CentOS and RHEL, and as far as I know, these machines are flying under the radar of any "desktop Linux" survey. |
| penguinist May 13, 2016 9:01 AM EDT |
So 36 million Linux desktop users is most likely a very conservative number. In my case I have 50 systems in university classrooms running Linux. These systems are centrally administered so they don't directly pull updates from any repository, so like kikinovak says, these systems are "flying under the radar" and don't appear in any census count. I suspect that there are more undocumented Linux systems than documented ones. I've seen Linux desktop penetration estimates of up to 8 percent, and most likely the reality lies somewhere in the middle. 1.5% is most certainly a FUD number and is not at all reflective of the truth. But we should also recognize that Linux is not for everyone. Linux desktop systems offer users what is maybe the only chance to establish personal control of your computing environment. Windows gives control to Microsoft, Mac gives control to Apple and Chromebook gives control to Google. But some people would prefer to give control to a "3rd party" rather than assuming personal responsibility. It's a "dumbed-down world" that we have evolved into, and the easiest path for the masses is to accept the subliminal advice of "marketing messages" and then head over to your store and hand over your credit card without really putting any mental energy into the decision. Let's also recognize that only 10% of the world's population is in the upper 10 percentile of the IQ curve. Hmmm, do we have a correlation here? |
| jdixon May 13, 2016 9:28 AM EDT |
> Let's also recognize that only 10% of the world's population is in the upper 10 percentile of the IQ curve. Hmmm, do we have a correlation here? Partial, but not exact. For example, many intelligent professionals simply don't have time to administer their own systems, and Linux probably isn't for them. It's probably more a case of a certain minimum intelligence level combined with a desire to learn and be in control. |
| number6x May 13, 2016 12:36 PM EDT |
If you are not registered, you should register at the Linux Counter Project. all of my Linux boxes are counted https://www.linuxcounter.net/ There are some good statistics there as well. Sadly too few linux users register. |
| NoDough May 14, 2016 11:24 AM EDT |
penjuinist wrote: In my case I have 50 systems in university classrooms running Linux. These systems are centrally administered so they don't directly pull updates from any repository... Not to change the subject, but have you considered writing articles about how to centrally administer Linux? Most how-to articles deal with the minutia of individual systems. I don't see many articles regarding how to centralize updates; how to centralize printing; how to setup LDAP based logins; etc. Just a thought. |
| penguinist May 14, 2016 6:01 PM EDT |
This won't be an article by any means, NoDough, but here are a few highlights presented as bullet points: - All systems are initially installed from a "golden image" which is transfered to the systems with dd. - pssh (parallel ssh) is great. You send out one command and it is applied to all systems. - prsync (parallel rsync) is great. You send out one command and do file transfers (backups/restores) to all systems. - All systems are reachable for administration by means of a password-free ssh certificate. That means that pssh and prsync commands can be embedded in automated scripts that run on a cron schedule. - We don't do printing, so if the user needs something printed they just email it to a printer-connected system. - LDAP authentication is an art. That topic would indeed require a full article to do any justice, but the LDAP Administrator's Manual is already fairly complete. That said, there is probably a need for a step by step walk through with examples. - Avoid bringing down the campus network during updates by passing the systems through a caching squid proxy, then use pssh to kick off updates as needed. It's all really not too complicated. Linux already has some beautiful facilities that make scripting and automation flexible and easy. |
| kikinovak May 16, 2016 3:02 AM EDT |
NoDough: don't think "article". Think "bookshelves". In my office I have a bookcase full up to the ceiling with O'Reilly books, NoStarch Press handbooks, Apress bibles, etc. |
| kikinovak May 16, 2016 3:04 AM EDT |
NoDough: if you want "quick & dirty" though, here's a good place to start. http://www.server-world.info/en/ |
| CFWhitman May 16, 2016 10:28 AM EDT |
The most recent stats available from Wikimedia (last August) show non-Android Linux at about 2.25% of non-mobile hits to the site. There is some deviation on a month by month basis, but the trend for Linux percentage has been increasing since they started keeping stats. The nature of desktop Linux is such that it (along with perhaps some other open source systems) would be the last system standing on the desktop, not the first to fall, assuming the desktop ever were to disappear. Of course, the desktop market actually seems to be beginning to stabilize rather than beginning to die. Desktops are not going anywhere soon, especially not in principle (that is, we are not close to abandoning the monitor/keyboard/pointing device on a desk model; what hardware is running those things may change, but not whether those things exist). The topic of running a Linux network: Also, besides the use of a caching proxy server for updates, many distributions make allowance for the possibility of running a local mirror for your network's updates, so that it updates once, and every other system on your network updates from it. |
| dotmatrix May 16, 2016 11:44 AM EDT |
Administering a large number of GNU/Linux machines... ansible is how 'devops' are doing that these days: https://www.ansible.com/ Since I only have a few machines and a couple of servers and because I like to see everything up close and personal, I generally do things by hand. However, I think I'm going to have a look at the FSF's Fully Automatic Installer: https://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2015/fall/administrate-files-not-systems |
| mbaehrlxer May 17, 2016 6:25 AM EDT |
we are using salt for the same effect. and even though i only have a handful of servers myself, i find it very useful, because it helps me keep configuration of all servers in one place, and it makes rebuilding servers a snap. greetings, eMBee. |
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